chinman.com
Public Zone 公開區 => Travelogues 遊記相薄 => Topic started by: chin on 21 August 2010, 02:55:19
-
We went to Shanghai for a few days, mainly to see the Expo.
It was hot, very crowded, and eye opening at the same time. In hind-sight, we could have arrange the visit better.
Perhaps there is still time to go before the Expo ends in Oct.
I have taken thousands of pictures. I am not going to post them in chronological orders. Just some random themes, whenever I have time and the mood to process the pictures.
-
The first theme to post is the 武當太極 Wudang Taiji show inside the Expo. They are all real young Taoist "Priests" in training. I used the word "Priest" for the lack of better word, since the English word priest may conjure up an image of someone preaching or hosting rituals. This is not the case here.
Anyway, this group of young Taoists are the real deals. Not just from any Kung Fu schools. They simply radiated confidence, focus and calmness. The movement was strong, decisive yet fully controlled. It was really a pleasure watching them.
The first set is Taiji Sword.
-
More Taiji Sword.
-
Even the young Taoist reciting scribes at the back was extremely calm and controlled, as the reciting part of the overall training.
-
More Taiji Sword from the youngsters.
-
Duster 塵拂
-
Fan
-
太極拳！
-
I have been very lazy in processing & posting the pictures. I am afraid that after 18 months, my memory of the trip was not as fresh or accurate.
But anyway, here we go...
-
For this trip, we took the relatively unusual transport - through train from Hong Kong to Shanghai!
My kids were excited, for the initial few hours. But after a while, the novelty worn out.
-
Shanghai was melting hot! So hot that as soon as I went outdoor, I wanted to return in-door again.
The 3 pictures below shows the cooling devices inside the Expo parks.
-
Did I learn much about other countries or cultures during the Expo? I cannot really say Yes.
The heat, the long line, the rush... none of these made it easier to really focus and spend time to read or see whatever was on display. (I have more stories about the long line later. Stay tuned.)
One thing for sure is that the pavilions are all very cool looking. So I am just showing a few pictures here.
-
More buildings...
-
Before the trip, we already knew that the lines were very long in the better pavilions. The line for the German, Japan, Saudi & China pavilions were particularly long - from 4 to 6 hours waiting!!! Which means lining up for one pavilion would take the whole day!
Luckily, we also knew that some travel agency, especially those specialized in sports event ticketing, can arrange or pre-arrange entries. We have hired one such agency. As a result, we were able to see about 15 pavilions in the 4 days allocated to visit the Expo.
How do they arrange the priority entrance? There are different ways, including
i. send someone in the early morning to get entry tickets that designated a specific visiting time
ii. use the senior, small child, or disabled person priority entry. Each "disabled/senior" person can be accompanied by a number of family member
iii. buying allocation from tour groups who have been lining up from the morning, these tour groups reported more members then actual, thus able to sell the excess spaces
iv. outright bribing (I am guessing) the guards who guarded the VIP entrance or exits!
So in additional to the entry fee to the Expo parks, the travel agency charged us per person per entrance to the pavilions, depending on how hard or how expensive to gain priority entrance. For example, the cheapest would be method i above, which cost only RMB200 per person. Method iv was the most expensive cost RMB2000 per person.
At the end of the trip, after tallied up all costs, we found that we had paid RMB8,100 in official entry fee, plus ~RMB53,000 for these special entry services!
We were also able to hire a specially licensed van, so we can be taken all the way very near the entrance. Special license means the van was meant for people who work for the Expo, not VIP guests.
-
German Pavilion, one of the most popular pavilion in the Expo, with lines routinely 3 or 4 hours long. Entry gained by method iv.
Someone said the Expo was staged not for foreign visitors to China, but mainly to bring the world to China, so the Chinese people can see the world without going out of the country. Sort of "travel" around the world all in one place, and take picture with the strange looking foreigners.
-
The Expo also brought foreign food and entertainment to China. For each day visiting the Expo, we arranged to have dinner in some of the pavilions.
The dinner ranging from very exclusive (and expensive) to very moderate priced (but still expensive for mainland standard.) The first day we had dinner in the Spanish Pavilion. The food was just so-so but the main attraction was the show.
First performance, right after appetizer, was a flamenco inspired solo dance.
-
After the main course, we then have this funny guy who can make music with any tube like material. Almost everything that's not normally musical instrument. Like blowing into the metal tube of a bike.
-
After or while having desert, we had this comical string quartet.
-
More pictures of the Spanish girls.
-
After the Spanish dinner and show, we visited the Spanish Pavilion. And we saw this giant robotic baby.
-
In the evening, we visited the Russian and the American. Entry method ii.
I really failed to appreciate what's the meaning or significance of the Russian pavilion. What impression I should have?!
The American one is very simple. Before the Expo started, there were lots of news that the American Pavilion was delayed for months due to lack of funding. How come the richest country in the world cannot fund it's own pavilion? I think the only reason was that they don't give a damn about the Expo. Supposedly eventually some American corporate sponsors chipped in to build the pavilion. I suspected that the local Shanghaiese government also sponsored quick a bit, otherwise missing US in the Expo would be loss of faces.
The US pavilion really was just a Hollywood feel-good movie, with lots of product placement type of soft ad. I don't think the Chinese really need to see the US Pavilion. All they need is just to look around their cities, cinemas, malls, consumption at home, or their own changing living habit. American culture had long made the invasion.
The second picture was taken right outside the US Pavilion. The sign says the US Pavilion does not have chop. In the Expo shops, there were many styles of "Expo Passport" for sale. You can buy one, then chop the "passport" at each pavilion visited.
-
I believe these two pavilions were not purpose built for the Expo. They were part of an old shipyard.
The first picture was the Japanese Corporates Pavilion. I did not go into the pavilion, but we went to the restaurant there. It was the most exclusive restaurant we went for this trip. The restaurant only had 2 or 3 private rooms, and we were the only party that evening. The private room we had was maybe 800 sq ft in dining area, facing a very large (maybe 5000 sq ft) Japanese garden on one side. The Japanese garden was occasionally covered in man-made mist.
The food was very very good. Michelin 3-star, in my opinion. Cost was almost RMB3,000 per person.
The second picture was the Pavilion of Footprint. The English name may be a bit mysterious. It's a exhibit hall about cities.
-
Some pictures inside the Pavilion of Footprint. It was a very good exhibit. Lots of interesting stuff to see. Since it was not a country themed pavilion, the line was very short, and I went there twice.
One of the most impressive exhibits (first picture) was the real wood house relocated from some place in Jiangsu to the Expo.
-
Saudi Arabia Pavilion, entry method iv.
We all heard stories that Saudi citizens get paid to be born Saudi, that it's citizens don't need to work, etc... Now one of the new perks we found out is that Saudi citizens just show their passport then they can enter via the VIP entrance. Non-Saudi visitor line up for about 6 hours on the particular date we visited.
Our travel agency somehow managed for some in our group to enter via the VIP entrance, when a Saudi family entered.
-
Another picture of the Korean pavilion, and the hip hop dance show at this pavilion.
We did not go into the pavilion, but had lunch there. The manager and the receptionist were very rude and unprofessional. They insisted that we read the menu first before getting sit, because the "food was expensive." Well, as it turned out, given the low quality of the food & service, it was expensive for the price of maybe RMB100 per person.
Speak of food, one of the dinner we had was in the Norway Pavilion. Again, even with prior booking, the receptionist asked if we had looked at the menu. Our guess is that at average few hundred RMB per person, it was way out of the price expectation for many mainland visitors. They apparently did not want the guest sit down first before finding out about the price.
Anyway, the food in the Norway Pavilion was very good. Fresh seafood plus different style smoked salmons directly from Norway. The 4 different styles of smoked salmons was probably the best I ever had.
-
Speaking of food, we also had dinner in the Alsace or the Rhone Pavilion, in a restaurant run by the Restaurant-Ecole Institut Paul Bocuse.
I just look up the name on the Internet, and it's a school started/inspired/managed by a Michelin 3-star chef. At the time of our visit, the food was very good, the service was attentive but a bit green.
-
Back to the Expo pavilions. More random pictures outside the pavilions.
-
... and inside & under.
-
Inside the Shanghai GM show of future cars. The show was first a ride in a movable seat (like in Disney) then dramatic performance as in this picture.
Then the 2nd picture is the dancing balls in the Chinese Enterprise Pavilion.
-
China Pavilion, entry method iii. Even with the jump, we still had to line up 1 hour before getting in.
-
Some inside view of the China Pavilion. The key attraction was the animated version of 清明上河圖.
-
Outside view of the China Pavilion.
The location of the Hong Kong Pavilion, Macau Pavilion, & Taiwan Pavilion was very symbolic and strategic. As you can see from the first picture, the very large & imposing China Pavilion is standing right next to the much smaller Hong Kong & Macau pavilions. The Taiwan pavilion is on the other side of the China Pavilion. (If one day Taiwan is reunited with mainland China, would the Taiwan Pavilion be together with the Hong Kong & Macau ones?)
-
Night time view of the China Pavilion.
-
For the week in Shanghai, we rented 2 apartments at the Marriott Executive Apartments. It was very nice and comfy.
-
The above are pretty much the Expo related pictures. We also took one day off from the Expo and went to Hangzhou. I will post the pictures later.
-
iv. outright bribing (I am guessing) the guards who guarded the VIP entrance or exits!
I like to think of it as tipping in advance :)