China: Expat views of the Shanghai Expo
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The Shanghai World Expo is already two months in to its half-year residency. Bloggers have been active in trying to decipher the purpose of the extravaganza, as well as keep track of the lightning-speed developments few corners of Shanghai have been able to avoid in preparing for the event.
The exhibition, which opened on 1st May and will run until the end of October, has been seen as Shanghai's chance to showcase itself to the rest of the world. In dishing out the reported $46 billion spent on the Expo, China has invested more money in it than the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Official figures have predicted 70 million visitors will flock to the 240 pavilions and exhibitions staged by participating countries and organisations, spread out over 2.5 miles of Shanghai's Huangpu riverbank. Though initially, daily crowds were averaging at 200,000, as opposed to the 380,000 plus/day needed to hit the 70 million mark, 15th June saw a colossal 518,000 people attend, with some waiting between five and seven hours just to enter one pavilion.
The theme of the Expo, visible on posters, billboards and the ubiquitous Haibao mascot strewn across Shanghai, is ‘better city, better life'. Whether or not this slogan is an accurate reflection of the exhibition's effect on the city has been debated by Chinese netizens, not least among them being Han Han in his quintessentially derisive manner:
If you really want a metaphor, it’s sort of like when a domestic clothing brand is very hot and heavily advertised. You wear the clothes and feel badass and extravagant, but when you go abroad and ask around you discover it’s actually a second-rate brand.
The growing community of expat bloggers in China has also been vocal. Leading the pack for his widespread coverage is Shanghai-based American writer Adam Minter, who has documented the Expo on his reporter blog, Shanghai Scrap, for over a year. A major focus of Minter's reporting has been the detailed expose of the nepotism and corruption that occurred behind the construction site of the US pavilion, in particular.
City blogs such as Urbanatomy and Shanghaiist have also been following the daily comings and goings of the event, from the sly tactics eager visitors are using to enter pavilions to the online sale of souvenir Expo passports (complete with pavilion stamps) for a whopping 5,880 RMB ($840). The diligence of Shanghai's authorities in enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the 19 million-strong metropolis has also been noted: after years of construction, the landmark Bund walkway has been opened to pedestrians, luggage scanners have been planted in the stations of the city's ever-expanding metro system, the quintessential art of jaywalking has visibly withered, government-led programmes have encouraged residents to refrain from wearing pyjamas outside, and a restriction on knife sales has also been in place to maintain public security.
The exhibition, which opened on 1st May and will run until the end of October, has been seen as Shanghai's chance to showcase itself to the rest of the world. In dishing out the reported $46 billion spent on the Expo, China has invested more money in it than the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Official figures have predicted 70 million visitors will flock to the 240 pavilions and exhibitions staged by participating countries and organisations, spread out over 2.5 miles of Shanghai's Huangpu riverbank. Though initially, daily crowds were averaging at 200,000, as opposed to the 380,000 plus/day needed to hit the 70 million mark, 15th June saw a colossal 518,000 people attend, with some waiting between five and seven hours just to enter one pavilion.
The theme of the Expo, visible on posters, billboards and the ubiquitous Haibao mascot strewn across Shanghai, is ‘better city, better life'. Whether or not this slogan is an accurate reflection of the exhibition's effect on the city has been debated by Chinese netizens, not least among them being Han Han in his quintessentially derisive manner:
If you really want a metaphor, it’s sort of like when a domestic clothing brand is very hot and heavily advertised. You wear the clothes and feel badass and extravagant, but when you go abroad and ask around you discover it’s actually a second-rate brand.
The growing community of expat bloggers in China has also been vocal. Leading the pack for his widespread coverage is Shanghai-based American writer Adam Minter, who has documented the Expo on his reporter blog, Shanghai Scrap, for over a year. A major focus of Minter's reporting has been the detailed expose of the nepotism and corruption that occurred behind the construction site of the US pavilion, in particular.
City blogs such as Urbanatomy and Shanghaiist have also been following the daily comings and goings of the event, from the sly tactics eager visitors are using to enter pavilions to the online sale of souvenir Expo passports (complete with pavilion stamps) for a whopping 5,880 RMB ($840). The diligence of Shanghai's authorities in enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the 19 million-strong metropolis has also been noted: after years of construction, the landmark Bund walkway has been opened to pedestrians, luggage scanners have been planted in the stations of the city's ever-expanding metro system, the quintessential art of jaywalking has visibly withered, government-led programmes have encouraged residents to refrain from wearing pyjamas outside, and a restriction on knife sales has also been in place to maintain public security.
However, this Expo-inspired clean up of the city has also made room for widespread destruction of various historic neighbourhoods, which Paul French has covered (and promptly lamented) on China Rhyming. The characteristic Wujiang Lu food street, a gritty pathway of local dumpling houses and street skewer stalls, was entirely torn down and replaced with Western food chains and a mall in February.
By Marta Cooper
