Shanghai World Expo

 

Night view of China Pavilion

Since this past May, people all around the world have been talking about the remarkable and historic event. The Shanghai World Expo is regarded as another great milestone in China after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The expo, officially titled "Expo 2010 Shanghai China", was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai from May 1st until October 31st. It was the world's largest world fair site at 5.28 square km.

It also had the largest number of participating countries as well as attracting the most visitors in the history of world's fairs. By the end of the Expo, over 73 million visitors set record attendance numbers and saw more than 240 countries and international organizations participate in the world event. On October 16th, 2010, the Expo set its single-day record of over 1.03 million visitors to have entered the exhibition grounds.

This year's Expo theme was "Better City – Better Life" which is meant to signify the full potential of urban life in the 21st Century and highlight the momentous evolution in urban life. The Expo's mascot is Haibao, a stylized representation of the Chinese character for people and means "treasure of the sea."