Shanghai ready to impress the world with 2010

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It was pouring rain in Shanghai on March 30, but the bad weather didn't stop workers at the city's biggest construction site. Making final preparations for the World Expo, they are racing the clock to finish by the Expo's opening day on May 1.

Some pavilions are still covered with scaffolds. Cranes, piles of building materials and debris are seen everywhere. There is a rumor that up to 20 percent of pavilions will not be finished on time.


But Vice Mayor of Shanghai Yang Xiong has assured that the Expo will open as scheduled, with less than 10 percent of the pavilions not ready to greet visitors.

"I know that every country and organization who builds their own pavilion is doing their best. We still have a month to go, it is impossible and also impolite to say how many pavilions will not be finished on time," Yang said.

He added that 70 percent of the pavilions will be open for the Expo's test-run on April 20.

The Shanghai World Expo has made history with the number of participants and pavilions being built. Organizers say 192 countries and 50 international organizations will participate in the Expo. Of those, 42 have built their own pavilions.

Australia is also making its own history, building its biggest pavilion ever. "One of our major objectives here is to help Shanghai and China to hold the best, biggest and most spectacular Expo ever," said Australian Pavilion Director Peter Sams.

It is also the first time that the World Expo will be held in the heart of a big city. The Expo site, covering a total area of 5.28 square kilometers, is located at the waterfront area on both sides of the Huangpu River, between Shanghai's Nanpu and Lupu bridges.

An estimated 70 million people are expected to attend the six-month event, which equals an average of 380,000 people entering the Expo each day.

"A large influx of visitors will bring great challenges and raise security concerns," Yang said, noting that Shanghai is confident about a safe Expo and has strict security measures in place. No liquids, sharp items, matches or lighters are allowed into the Expo arena.

The real-time number of visitors inside the Expo will be published through TV, radio and traffic information displays. If it is too crowded, there will be tips suggesting visitors to come another day.

More than 70,000 volunteers will be standing by to provide help. A further 130,000 volunteers will be placed at more than 1,000 locations in the city, ready to give out service information such as weather and traffic advisories.

As of March 29, more than 22 million Expo tickets had been sold, and 12,303 journalists from 1,260 media organizations had registered to cover the event.