CHINA TRIP Day 30: "It's like Pokemon to them, they gotta catch 'em all."

Wednesday, June 16

I think everyone was excited for our visit to the World Expo today. We had discussed how early we needed to go and since it was the Dragon Boat Festival, most people were on holiday and we were afraid of the Expo being overcrowded. We arrived around 7:45 in the morning and the gates opened at 9. As we approached the lines we noticed people running and naturally, ran ourselves because many of us were interested in getting in as early as possible for a shot at getting into the China Pavilion (they only issue 20,000 tickets a day and without a ticket, you couldn’t go in). Once we got to the lines, we were a little overwhelmed but I was at least relieved that we were under the tents and not outside. I could see the security in the front so I knew that while the lines seemed long, we weren’t in too much trouble. It was hilarious to see other people immediately bring out portable, foldable chairs to sit on as they waited in line. As the line started moving, however, we ran into problems of getting pushed aside and people cutting, especially those who knew someone in the line ahead of them and went to join them. Despite our large group being separated, we didn’t force ourselves to stick together in line by cutting in front of other people, so I was a little annoyed with everyone else’s behavior. There were a couple girls who knew exactly what they were doing, I could tell they were eyeing us and talking in Chinese and tried to walk past us. The boys were very aware and took up the entire aisle, even putting their hands up on the rail to prevent people from passing.

Once we got through security, there were people handing out tickets to each person as they passed; when I looked at it, they were tickets into the China Pavilion! Our time was 9:30 so I imagined we got one of the earlier tickets; I thought it would be much harder to obtain these. We were very excited and ended up trading with someone for a later time but regardless, I was glad we would be able to go. After stocking up on water and figuring out our reservations, we asked some of the volunteers for directions and eventually made our way over to the Europe Square. On our way we passed the Latvia and Estonia Pavilions, and there was absolutely no one going inside Estonia, and so we figured we would be the first ones in. It was just a small auditorium and there was no one inside either. I thought it was odd that they had small statues of pigs as decoration but we took a couple pictures and moved on. Our first priority was seeing the UK Pavilion because it was given a lot of reviews as possibly one of the best Pavilions at the Expo. Despite being one of the first groups in, there were already long lines outside many of the European Pavilions, and the UK line was about a 30-40 minute wait.

The UK Pavilion fascinated me; there were no presentations or any videos, the building was the exhibit. The outside had maps of the three biggest cities in London etched into the structure in synthetic grass. We followed the path to the inside and noticed that the inside looked similar to the outside, in terms of the spiky structure. It was a small room with a square opening in the middle that just showed more spikes pointing upward. It was odd that the UK wouldn’t have any cultural presentations or anything flashy. I wasn’t sure what to make of the Pavilion, but then I looked closer at the clear spikes and they were shaped like chopsticks, getting gradually wider near the top. The top was square and inside I saw a magnified sample of a plant or herb. Each spike had a different plant sample. When we exited the Pavilion, there were a few Expo volunteers explaining the botanical displays lining the wall of the pavilion. There was a peace lily, “for cleaning indoor air,” a plant that “eats itself,” and a current research project that, if successful, will allow the color of this particular plant determine what kind of illness someone might have, such as H1N1, chicken pox, or strep throat. I was amazed that this kind of research was possible and realized that the Pavilion was showcasing natural ways to be sustainable, without being very obvious about it.

As we were leaving the Pavilion grounds we noticed a few people frantically stamping passports. I thought it was a neat idea and quickly bought a passport of my own to stamp and instead of getting into lines for the other Pavilions we wanted to see right away (since the lines were terribly long), we went into the Africa and Caribbean Community Pavilions to get as many stamps as possible. We weren’t in a mad rush but noticed groups of Chinese people frantically running from booth to booth trying to get as many stamps as possible. They didn’t care to go inside the Pavilions or look around at the displays; as soon as the got their stamps, they moved on. I thought that was incredibly rude, especially since there were people waiting in lines for hours who actually wanted to see the Pavilions. The only other Pavilion we waited in line for besides the UK and China Pavilions was Brazil. It was a nice setup but I wouldn’t have waited any longer than we did. The Pavilion featured a series of LED screen displays that showed videos and display cases of Brazilian cultural attire along the walls. While we were waiting in line, musicians and dancers came out and performed; so that was a first-hand experience into the culture a little.

When we headed to the China Pavilion after lunch, I was surprised to see that Hong Kong and Taiwan had their own smaller pavilions next to it. Especially with what we learned about cross-strait relations in Taiwan and how Taiwan is technically not a country, I didn’t think China would allow them to have a Pavilion at the World Expo, which is about showcasing countries all over the world. If anything, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the China Pavilion had a section for Taiwan and Hong Kong, but it didn’t. A few of the other students and I kept discussing how huge the China Pavilion was and we agreed that there was no way the government would allow any other country to have a Pavilion even close to its size. I remember in one of the articles I read on my flight to Taipei it discussed how China wanted to be the “biggest and the baddest.” The Pavilion had four separate sections; the two I found most interesting was the first one that went through China’s history through LED screens and display cases. We got into the line to see China’s “National Treasures” and were a little disappointed when it turned out to be only one, and we were on a conveyer belt that moved rather quickly, so I couldn’t even get a decent picture. We asked an Expo volunteer why there was only one artifact (because of the plural title) and she said that every month the government changes the display. I wondered if the artifact was authentic or another copy from the same era. The walkway to the next exhibit featured the winning paintings by youth from a national competition and we just looked at them in disbelief. Almost every single painting looked too professional to have been done by elementary and middle school-aged kids. Given our experience in China so far, we walked away from it with the assumption that professionals actually painted and drew them and the government just said kids did it.

The final exhibit we walked through in the China Pavilion featured, of course, sustainability. There was a glass casing around the escalators with a waterfall and plants, which reminded me of the EcoARK in Taipei which had plants that would recycle the water and purify it every time. The rest of the exhibit featured a section on “Wind Energy” and “Solar Energy” but didn’t have anything more on display besides miniature windmills and solar panels and LED screens that spewed statistics. The only interesting thing about this exhibit were the LED screens; there were three separate screens, but the middle one moved back and forth and attached itself to the other two at various times. Once it did, the middle screen went from showing an independent picture to an adjoined one with one of the other screens. It was impressive technology. We didn’t believe the sustainability displays one bit and definitely felt as though it was just for appearances sake since the Expo was supposed to inspire eco-friendly research.

Overall, I think the Expo was a great experience and its purpose is admirable. I don’t know how realistic it is, particularly for China, since it seemed as though everything was done for international appeal and appearances’ sake. When I heard that the government planned on destroying all the Pavilions except for the China Pavilion, I felt that it was an extreme waste of resources, especially since it would cost China to destroy and redevelop the area. I kept thinking that they could just replace all the Pavilion employees with Chinese workers and leave the restaurants and buildings up (even if they get rid of the performances and films and such). They would still be able to bring in a huge amount of profit and give the younger generations a chance to appreciate international cultures. I felt that the China Pavilion would just end up being an empty building, similar to how the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube have been treated after the Olympics. China hasn’t proven to be very considerate about preservation of anything besides the political system.

That night there was debate as to where we were going. A lot of the guys wanted to go to Paramount again, but Aren and I at least didn't want to go to the same place again, especially since we only had a few more days in Shanghai. We opted for TanghuiVIP, a very Chinese club that was having a ladies' night. The entire place was decked out in World Cup paraphernalia, and the alcohol sucked. They had quite a few performers though and with the lack of a dance floor, it made sense. It was an interesting experience, but I was disappointed and it was possibly my least favorite place of the trip.