Advertisement

In all the rushing around at expo, something new: the orderly queue

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0

There is a viral text message making the rounds in Shanghai.

'Nothing to do and want to waste some time? Go to the expo and queue up. Want to break up with your lover? Take her to the expo to queue up. Do you hate someone? Give him an expo ticket and make him stand in a queue. If you still hate him, send him more tickets and make his whole family stand in a queue.'

It's hardly cutting satire, but it neatly depicts the city's residents' overriding impression of the World Expo so far.

Despite a truly dismal opening fortnight that gave Shanghai officials serious jitters about the six-month fair's viability, business in the vast park has finally started to pick up.

Last Saturday - by far its busiest day yet - the park drew a crowd of 505,000 and now regularly has more than 300,000 visitors on ordinary days. (There is widespread scepticism about just how accurate those figures are, but even the most fervent of the expo's detractors admit it is busier than before.)

At last, Shanghaiers and tourists from neighbouring cities and provinces have woken up to the fact they have the world on their doorstep and are coming to take a look.

Advertisement