As if controversy over the queues, heat and lack of shelter were not enough, the World Expo is mired in confusion over whether or not any of its pavilions - other than the Chinese ones - will be spared the wreckers' ball when the show is over.
No, says a spokesman for the World Expo Bureau.
That's not what we were told, staff of some of the foreign pavilions say. And that's not what expo director Hong Hao said, according to the Guangzhou Daily newspaper.
The confusion began on Wednesday, when appeals by Spain and Luxembourg to the Chinese public to vote their pavilions among their top five to ensure they were preserved for posterity were widely reported in mainland media.
The bureau spokesman said it was customary to demolish all temporary pavilions and there had been no change of policy. All foreign pavilions were temporary, he said.
Expo Bureau vice-director Zhu Yonglei said he had read the reports but that there would be no voting and the bureau had never thought of keeping any of the foreign pavilions, the Guangzhou Daily said.