When we went to the Shanghai World Expo 2010, it was the last few days of the expo already. I heard about it from some friends and saw photos posted on Facebook too. Seeing them made me want to go and see what was inside all those magnificent pavilions of the different countries.
On the first day we went to the Expo, we did not know how to get there because we didn’t have a tour guide with us. At first, we tried asking the hotel concierge for directions but it was a bit vague because we couldn’t find where the MRT station was and they didn’t explain very well. In the end, we took two cabs. Yes, two. They strictly follow the no overloading rule and each cab can only fit 4 people.
The first pavilion we entered was Thailand’s because it was very near the entrance. Inside it were shows narrating their country’s culture and different beliefs. If you stayed at the front row of the last room, you will get wet. It was cute and educational.
The next pavilion we visited was Malaysia’s. Inside were different merchandise for sale (i.e. chocolate, cocoa powder), a display of a mini rain forest, and behind it was a small version of the Petronas Towers that Malaysia is widely known for. There was no queue outside, however, inside was a different story. People everywhere!
We did not enter the Singapore Pavilion because there was a long line already and my sisters weren’t really up to waiting in line.
When we first passed the Philippine Pavilion, we saw a queue but it was not that long. When we passed by the second time, the queue was really long! We didn’t go in anymore because I heard there were just some shows inside about the different Filipino artists.
One of my favorite pavilions was Australia’s, not because of the exterior architecture but the content inside. There were cute statues along the path going to their AV room which illustrated their country’s history. They looked like caricatures only they weren’t on paper. The design of the whole pavilion was amazing because it really takes you to the journey of discovering Australia.
The AV presentation was superb! There was a huge round screen that would move up and down and also rotate while showing the movie they prepared. The transitions were also in sync with the movie and the latter had great content which would make you really think about how you can contribute to make your city a better one.
You can’t see much of the people around the Korea Pavilion from the photo (because I cropped them off), but there was a really long queue of people around and under the pavilion. We tried to look for the end of the line but there was a sign that it would take more than 2 hours in line before you could reach the entrance. So we just headed for the souvenir shop beside it, which had a separate line and shorter too. Inside was jam-packed with people because it was a really small store.
I took this photo of the UAE Pavilion while I was waiting for my dad and sisters to finish shopping at the Shanghai Expo souvenir shop. There wasn’t much to buy since it was the last few days and almost all their merchandise had their mascot on it.
Took this while passing. Did not enter because we were kind of tired and we looked for more interesting looking pavilions to enter. We didn’t bother entering those with really long lines on our first day at the expo because we thought it would be a waste of time and the more countries we visited, the better.
Another photo took in passing. This was my best shot of the UK Pavilion. :( Sad! There were so many people surrounding it and I wasn’t tall enough to get a shot without the people! Hmpf.
Another one of my favorites, the France Pavilion. The exterior design is shown above and the interior design is a garden! You wouldn’t expect to see a garden after you enter this huge pavilion. There was also an escalator that takes you to the top of the pavilion and you’ll walk through and around the pavilion downwards. There were displays of different French brands and also a kitchen was inside, and you can see through the glass what the chefs are making.
Canada’s pavilion was very big as well and inside are a lot of interactive rooms where you can ride a stationary bicycle and you’ll be moving forward because there’s a scenery right in front that moves along with you when you pedal! It’s very dark inside so when the 5 of us got separated, we kind of panicked. In the end, we found dad at the souvenir shop at the end of the path, my youngest sister was together with me, and my two other sisters were looking for us at the bike room.
Inside the Vietnam Pavilion was a huge fountain pool in the middle and you have to walk around it. There were a lot of art pieces displayed along the walls and it was dimly lit.
We also visited the smaller grouped pavilions of the third world countries. Most of them had texts on the walls explaining their cultures, history and way of living. It was pretty interesting as well.
I don’t have a photo of the exterior of the Italy Pavilion but we waited in line for almost 3 hours to get inside, but it was worth it!
The pavilion had high ceilings in the main hall where the orchestra on the wall is located and it also had a second floor wherein there was a small restaurant/cafe and a room that had a display of very shiny and expensive gems that were not allowed to be photographed. At the ground floor were displays of violin making, pasta, the giant shoe, vintage cars, the bad-ass red Ferrari and many more!
