Expo visitors brave the heat and receive bonus
By Cai Wenjunand Yao Minji |
May 4, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE steamy weather yesterday, hitting 30 degrees Celsius, provided an unexpected bonus for visitors to the Shanghai World Expo - a smaller crowd and thus easier access to state-of-the-art pavilions.
About 130,000 people descended on the Expo zone yesterday, roughly 95,000 less than the previous day.
However, Expo officials have fully prepared for a boomer day today, the first day when a special peak-day ticket is not needed.
Plus, weather forecasters predict that it won't be so hot and sticky today.
"We have about 8,000 volunteers serving at the Expo zone tomorrow," Deng Jing, from the Expo volunteer department, said yesterday.
Hong Hao, director-general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, told a news conference yesterday that medical stations inside the Expo site received 167 patients by the afternoon, similar to Sunday, with none of them seriously hurt or ill.
Chen Xia, a 45-year-old woman from neighboring Zhejiang Province, prepared herself well before entering the Expo site yesterday.
"I saw the news about yesterday (Sunday) ... how hot it was and how many people suffered sunstroke," said Chen, who took an umbrella, a collapsible chair, sunblock cream and sunglasses and filled her water bottle as soon as she entered the site at 10am.
She had visited five pavilions, including France and Germany, by 3pm, unthinkable on the first two days.
"My relatives came yesterday and waited for three hours at the France Pavilion, but I only waited for 40 minutes today," said Chen, red-faced but pleased.
The US Pavilion had an official opening ceremony yesterday morning.
United States Commissioner General to the Expo, Jose H. Villarreal, expressed satisfaction over the number of visitors so far received.
With a maximum daily capacity of 35,000 people, the US Pavilion received about 50,000 for the first two days.
Villarreal considers this "a remarkable achievement" for the pavilion with the theme Rising to the Challenge that also features movies made specially for the occasion.
"I think the movies are fun and very American," said Lin Wei, a 21-year-old student who visited the US Pavilion yesterday. "But it's a little inconvenient because you can't jump to the next hall until you finish watching the films, unlike many other pavilions where you can hop around freely."
Villarreal was joined by the US Consul General in Shanghai, Beatrice Camp, and the Deputy Director General of the Expo bureau, Huang Jianzhi, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Camp and Villarreal swore in 168 young American volunteers - all fluent in Chinese - at the pavilion as special student ambassadors.
The first guest at the pavilion was President Hu Jintao who visited last Thursday.
Villarreal said Hu was pleased to see the video message from US President Barack Obama in one of the three movies at the pavilion.
About 130,000 people descended on the Expo zone yesterday, roughly 95,000 less than the previous day.
However, Expo officials have fully prepared for a boomer day today, the first day when a special peak-day ticket is not needed.
Plus, weather forecasters predict that it won't be so hot and sticky today.
"We have about 8,000 volunteers serving at the Expo zone tomorrow," Deng Jing, from the Expo volunteer department, said yesterday.
Hong Hao, director-general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, told a news conference yesterday that medical stations inside the Expo site received 167 patients by the afternoon, similar to Sunday, with none of them seriously hurt or ill.
Chen Xia, a 45-year-old woman from neighboring Zhejiang Province, prepared herself well before entering the Expo site yesterday.
"I saw the news about yesterday (Sunday) ... how hot it was and how many people suffered sunstroke," said Chen, who took an umbrella, a collapsible chair, sunblock cream and sunglasses and filled her water bottle as soon as she entered the site at 10am.
She had visited five pavilions, including France and Germany, by 3pm, unthinkable on the first two days.
"My relatives came yesterday and waited for three hours at the France Pavilion, but I only waited for 40 minutes today," said Chen, red-faced but pleased.
The US Pavilion had an official opening ceremony yesterday morning.
United States Commissioner General to the Expo, Jose H. Villarreal, expressed satisfaction over the number of visitors so far received.
With a maximum daily capacity of 35,000 people, the US Pavilion received about 50,000 for the first two days.
Villarreal considers this "a remarkable achievement" for the pavilion with the theme Rising to the Challenge that also features movies made specially for the occasion.
"I think the movies are fun and very American," said Lin Wei, a 21-year-old student who visited the US Pavilion yesterday. "But it's a little inconvenient because you can't jump to the next hall until you finish watching the films, unlike many other pavilions where you can hop around freely."
Villarreal was joined by the US Consul General in Shanghai, Beatrice Camp, and the Deputy Director General of the Expo bureau, Huang Jianzhi, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Camp and Villarreal swore in 168 young American volunteers - all fluent in Chinese - at the pavilion as special student ambassadors.
The first guest at the pavilion was President Hu Jintao who visited last Thursday.
Villarreal said Hu was pleased to see the video message from US President Barack Obama in one of the three movies at the pavilion.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
