A dancer is seen tears down after her last performance at the World Expo Park in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 31, 2010. The 184-day Shanghai World Expo 2010 is set to be closed here Sunday. [Xinhua/Li Jian]

A grand finale rounded off the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai on Sunday, culminating in a six-month feast of human civilization.

Yet at the farewell moment, it was hard to say goodbye. The sensibility stemmed partly from the special sentiment the Chinese people have attached to the event, as the dream of hosting the World Expo eluded the ancient nation for generations.

During the past half year, friendly Chinese hosts exerted their passion and professionalism for the arduous project, whose smooth operation dispelled the doubt of those who had once questioned China's ability to run such an enormous event, and exceeded the expectations of many of the trustful.

It was hard to say goodbye also because of the magnificence of the event itself. The Shanghai Expo presented a diverse splendor with a string of new records, including a record number of participants and a record number of visitors.

"China has been able to fully interpret and to put into practice the core values of education, innovation, cooperation which are the foundation on which an Expo develops its legacy," commented Vicente Loscertales, secretary-general of the International Expositions Bureau.

The curtain has come down, but the impact stays on. Thanks to the Shanghai Expo, different cultures will understand each other on better grounds, science and technology will advance with greater momentum, and the man-nature relationship will proceed toward a more harmonious future.

If goodbye is a resented word to Expo fans, it is definitely the most wanted one U.S. President Barack Obama wishes to say to Afghanistan, a sinkhole of U.S. military and financial resources for almost 10 years.

The Afghan government announced Wednesday that its counterinsurgency efforts had "entered its last phase and possibly would end in weeks." The claimed progress could help pave the way for the Obama administration to start drawing down U.S. forces in July next year as it has planned.

However, the current scenario does not bode well for the United States to bid farewell for good. Following a surge of 30,000 U.S. troops announced last year, the Taliban remains there and is growing stubbornly. It is still too early now to call when Washington can drag itself out of the mire.

Goodbye is also a luxurious word to the French government, which has had its hands full dealing with waves of protests against an obviously very unpopular pension reform.

The French parliament on Wednesday formally passed the austerity measure, a final word supposed to plug the bitter controversy and clear the nationwide chaos. Yet unsatisfied union leaders have declared that they would organize a new round of national strikes and protests early next month.

Against such a confrontational backdrop, it seems that it still needs a while for the dust to settle down over the French pension reform.