Shanghai Expo by Lisa Pomery from www.ey3.com    
We were lucky enough to attend the Shanghai World Expo during a recent trip to China.

In all, we attended the expo for 6 days and managed to see nearly 60 pavilions (which is a mammoth effort).
The expo was fantastic. I fondly remember the expo that I saw as a child in Brisbane in 1988 and Shanghai didn’t disappoint in comparison.  The 1st thing to strike me was the sheer size.  Although we had read and seen info about it, when you are finally confronted with an around 800 meter WIDE entrance gate (1 of at least 8) to queue everyone up and get them into the expo park, it was an extraordinary sight.
The expo theme, “Better City, Better Life”, was well presented through most of the pavilions we saw, shown as the hope for a greener, more sustainable future, with people living in harmony with nature and using resources in a more environmentally friendly manner.
Our favorites:
Our 1st favorite pavilion was the Chinese Private Enterprise pavilion in Zone E.
Why?  It wasn't just showing off new technology for the sake of it, which, after a while, grew very old hat. Instead they took some existing technology and made it work in a smart way – kind of like my own philosophy. The main exhibit was a series of balls that dropped to music and to images projected onto it and the moving balls.  To add to this, they placed a dancer in the middle – it was quite a sight and a very creative use of existing technology which I appreciated very much.
The Australian pavilion also suited its purpose.  It illustrated Australia using 6 moving high definition screens which rotated and moved up and down to images and music, with rotating mosaics in the middle of the screens.  It really did portray Australia as a great place to live – “Better City, Better Life”.  My only comment is that the products sold should have been Australian made!
Tips for visiting:
-  allow yourself time for days off – expoing is tiring business
-  get yourself a VIP pass, media pass, baby or a wheelchair bound person to take with you. (wheelchairs and prams are available to hire at the entrance gates) so at least when you can, you can skip the queues (assuming the rules don't change again before you go). If you don't have long, accelerated tours may be another option.
-  check out when the national day or honor day is for your country – as this makes you a VIP (for most pavilions) on that day.
-  go later in the day and stay til late – the peak periods for people are 10am — 2pm – this is also when it is hottest. If you arrive around 2 or 3pm you miss all the queues to enter the site and the numbers drop off considerably in the evening.
Get an expo guide (in English) from the bookshop (located in the main expo axis). This gives you a lot more detail than the maps you get handed out – the information stands have English maps too.
Travelscene Samford would like to thank Lisa for this lovely travel article as well as the tips.  Don’t forget that only Travelscene American Express lets you travel anywhere, any time and pay with your membership rewards points so contact us on 3289 3700 and let us help you turn your American Express membership rewards points into your next trip.