A careful inspection of the layout of the World Expo site in Shanghai suggests organisers went through some head-scratching and location-juggling.
With pavilions for almost every country on the planet squeezed into just a few square kilometres of river bank, old rivalries and diplomatic tensions are bound to create potential issues for organisers who were determined the six-month fair should pass without a hitch.
No expo officials were willing to discuss the placement of the pavilions, but a look at the configuration raised an eyebrow or two.
For example, visitors to the Asia section may smirk when they see that the North Korea pavilion - a kitsch delight in itself - has been placed next door to its 'axis of evil' partner, Iran.
Coincidence? Perhaps, but it is telling that their position in the site's easternmost corner is almost as far away as possible from the US at the west gate.
Fittingly, the great towering China pavilion stands midway between the two ends, forming the buffer that its diplomacy does in the United Nations.
More than a decade since their respective handovers, Hong Kong and Macau are safely in China's bosom. Naturally, their pavilions hover almost beneath the China pavilion's eaves.