Cases Joint Pavilion in UBPA Expo 2010 Shanghai

Cases Joint Pavilion 2

Global countries are key participants of world expositions. Worldwide cities start playing an important role in the exhibitions this year. To demonstrate the best practice examples in urban constructions and development, more than 50 represented cities are staging at the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) in Expo 2010 Shanghai. City cases come from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. In the exhibitions, some cities own individual pavilion buildings while some shares under the same roof in a Cases Joint Pavilion. There are in total 4 Cases Joint Pavilions.

Cases of Montreal, Bremen, Freiburg, Guangzhou, Ahmedabad, and Italian Ministry for Environment, Sea and Land are exhibited in the Cases Joint Pavilion 2 at Central UBPA, Zone E.  The Montreal Case Pavilion of Canada has been reported in my previous blog dated August 29, 2010. The Bremen Case of Germany presents energy efficiency and sustainable transport. The focus of the Guangzhou Case of China is "Green Land Action" for sustainable urban development and water environment management. The Ahmedabad Case of India showcases  a traditional residential mansion, Haveli, with the design for sunshades and  ventilation to relieve heat. The Italian Ministry exhibits sustainable cities. Please see attached videos.


Inside Cases Joint Pavilion 2

Inside the "Italy sustainable cities"

Expo Ticketing Policy Change with Effect from September 1, 2010

Ticket office at entrance Gate 9

According to the experiences of the previous world expositions, the number of visitors dramatically increased in the last 2 months for a last-minute rush. As the Shanghai Expo 2010 is approaching to its end, the Expo organizer has re-arranged the ticketing policy to control huge visitor crowds. Information from the official Shanghai Expo website indicated that the sales of standard-day admission tickets (160 yuan) would cease after August 31, 2010, and the 3-day (400 yuan) and 7-day (900 yuan) tickets had already been sold out. With effect from September 1, 2010, only intraday tickets will be available, and people can purchase them at Expo entrances. To avoid queues, visitors may use ticket vending machines on-site. After 4:00pm each day, visitors can also buy tickets for the following day. Intraday tickets include evening tickets (90 yuan) available from 4:00pm to 9:00pm and peak-day tickets (200 yuan) for the National Day Holiday (Oct 1 to 7, 2010) and the last week of the Expo (Oct 25 to 31, 2010).  (Source: Official Expo website http://en.expo2010.cn). Please refer to my blog dated May 4, 2010 for the classification of admission tickets. Peak day tickets are available at designed ticket sales agent such as Bank of Communications. For the local inquiry hotline on ticketing and the address for the official sales point, please refer to my blog dated July 31, 2010. Please note that there are limited numbers of peak-day ticket sales for a specific day. I heard that the peak-day tickets to be used on October 31, 2010 had already been sold out.

Ticket vending machine at Gate 9

Peak-day tickets should be used on a designed day within the above mentioned peak-day periods. For example, if you purchase a peak-day ticket to be used on October 1, 2010, you have to use it on that day or any day out of the peak-day periods. In other words, you can't use it from October 2 to 7 or 25 to 31, but you can use it from October 8 to 24 or any days in September. (Information sourced from the inquiry at the China Mobile Expo services desk when I was staying in Shanghai in July 2010. I again reconfirmed the information today by making a phone call inquiry to the China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Limited which is an official travel agent for the sales of Expo tickets in Hong Kong. As to date, standard-day tickets are still available at Hong Kong sales point.

Wisdom of the Montreal Best Practices Case

Montreal Case Pavilion

In writing this blog I would like to express my feelings of thankfulness to the sincere pavilion guides of the Montreal Case Pavilion which is located at the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) in Expo 2010 Shanghai. Montreal, a big city in Canada, hosted the world exposition in 1967. This year it participates in Expo 2010 by demonstrating its outstanding project in sustainable urban development. The project, namely Saint-Michel environmental complex, is Montreal's brilliant achievement in solving environmental problem for a site spoiled by industrial exploitation and later served as garbage landfills in a total years more than a century. In a rehabilitation plan in 1995, the Montreal's municipal government turned this limestone-quarry and landfill site into a large public park. The site's contaminated soil and residual materials were safely managed. The successful rehabilitation of the land has contributed to environmental improvement that brings better quality of city life to the citizens.

Exhibition hall

The story of the Saint-Michel environmental complex is presented with a multimedia projection on a screen which is composed of numerous movable blocks. The screen is set at a 45 degree angle to enhance a special visual effect. During the movie presentation, facets of blocks from the screen gently move up and down to give out a dynamic view. The movie takes visitors onto a vivid journey witnessing the marvelous transformation of a scrappy land into a spectacular complex. The multimedia hall at the Montreal Case Pavilion is not large, but the presentation is unique and outstanding. The design of the projection screen is creative and wonderful. It is impressive to see a screen in motion. How clever the Montrealers are.

David, a pavilion guide

David, who was one of the pavilion guides, gave us some useful and interesting information regarding the Saint-Michel environmental complex when we were waiting at the entrance of the multimedia hall. We were grateful to his kindness. The written explanation was indeed posted on the wall of the pavilion, but we had missed them. David told us that explanation would be given inside the hall from following weeks onwards. Upon our arrival at the Montreal Case Pavilion, there were only a few visitors. We waited for about 10 minutes to attend the movie presentation. The information given by David contributed to our enjoyment and profound understanding of the Saint-Michel story. Out of the multimedia hall after watching the show, we peeped through the tiny windows to find out the secrets behind the screen. There were a great number of metal rods moving up and down to support the movement of the screen blocks. Please refer to the video below. It was great that the organizer of the pavilion let us watch the back of the screen. Such arrangement stimulated our creative thinking.

Pavilion guides - Marie-Pierre (L), Claire (R)

In the final part of our touring at the Montreal Case Pavilion, we enjoyed chatting with two sweet girls who were also pavilion guides. In a friendly atmosphere, we learned more about Montreal. It was fantastic. By then, I felt that world expositions are international meeting points for global knowledge exchange. I noticed that there was another male pavilion guide giving information to the visitors in Mandarin. I was amazed to see a young Canadian speaking beautiful Mandarin. All of these pavilion guides make the exhibition become interactive and communicative. They have contributed to the promotion in building a good national image for their country. After I had got back to Hong Kong, I searched relevant information regarding the Montreal Case. The pavilion guides whom I met are among the 8 volunteers/ interns selected from 150 applicants to work for the Montreal Case Pavilion, and they are going back to Montreal on August 31, 2010 to continue their student life. There are more information about them from the website of Conseil jeunesse de Montreal (CJM Montreal Council). I saw their pictures and videos. However, I couldn't understand the content because the website is written in French.

With the kind permissions from the young pavilion guides of the Montreal Case Pavilion, I posted their photographs on my blog so as to keep this meaningful memory (See attached images). May I take this opportunity to say "Thank you" to all of them and wish them all the best in future.

Multimedia screen composing of numerous movable blocks

The secret behind the movable screen which is composed of numerous blocks.

Feeling Safe and Comfortable in Shanghai Expo 2010

Cooling mists at Entrance Gate 2

While Expo 2010 was running uneventfully in Shanghai of China, there were two dreadful holiday tragedies occurred in the other part of the world in the past 2 months. The first one was resulted from a chaotic stampede at the world's largest techno music festival in the German City of Duisburg on July 24, 2010. Nineteen concertgoers were crushed to death and 342 more were injured in the overcrowded tunnel that served as the sole entrance to the festival site in where many people came from across Europe. There left many evaluation questions particularly on the risk management. Another incidence was a tour-bus hijacking crisis in the Philippines capital Manila on August 23, 2010. Eight out of 15 Hong Kong tourists were killed and 2 out of the several survivors were critically injured after they had been held hostage for more than 11 hours. These innocent people started their trip from Hong Kong with happiness but ended with tragedy in Manila. How furious we were when following to watch the whole process of the coverage on the live TV. Everybody criticized the way that the siege was dealt with. The Philippine police didn't appear to have well prepared for the rescue. The President of the Philippines said that he didn't expect the hostage-taking situation to turn worse. This showed that the risk had been underestimated. Obviously, there is a lack of crisis management in the Philippine case. I have never been to the Philippines, and there is not any temptation for me to pay it a visit.

Electric fan at Romania Pavilion

On the contrary, I felt safe and comfortable during our visits to Shanghai Expo 2010. I visited the Expo in May and July this year, and still I would like to go again. The Expo 2010 is very impressive and well organized. There are in total 13 entrances/ exits for the site. Things appear to have been well planned to facilitate smooth logistics and high visitor flows. There are in average 400,000 people visiting the Expo each day, and everything is under good control. Lots of improvement are noted when comparing our two visits. For example, cooling mist systems have been increasingly installed at various sites including entrances, rest places, and queue-up areas for popular pavilions. Paper fans are distributed to visitors free of charge. More sunshades have been erected at the site. We occasionally saw people jump the queues during our first visit to the Expo in May. However, no more such situation was detected in our second visit in July. In many occasions, I could see that the Chinese government had put lots of efforts on the prevention of chaos. For risk management, policemen are assigned to stay with the queues at the pavilions with big crowds. People lined up in good order among the metal barriers. Wide gaps are allocated between queues to allow good ventilation, and boxes of ice are placed in these gaps to lower the temperature of the environment. Electric fans are set up at the queue-up area for some pavilions. For the popular pavilion with large amount of visitors, queues are divided into sections. After people have moved forward to the front section, their former space is left empty for about 10 minutes for the clean-up purpose. People from behind can then move forward. Please refer to the attached video. This system makes people feel more comfortable and most important avoid chaos.

Warning notice at Japan Pavilion

When we were lining up at the Japan Pavilion during our latest visit, we did not see any queue. jumping People kept their discipline well even though there were not any police. The notice of discipline warning erecting at the queue-up area seemed to be effective. Some wrote, "Please be patient and do not jump the queue", while others stated, "Polite Sharing and No Challenging".

Queuing gap at Russia Pavilion

The queuing wonder at Saudi Arabia Pavilion - Duty handover of the police

Enjoying the Leisure of Shanghai Expo 2010 without Any Crowds

A garden in UBPA

While hundreds of thousands of people were flooding into the Pudong region where national pavilions of Asia, Middle East, and Europe are located, we explored the peaceful side of the Shanghai World Exposition across the Huangpu River in the Puxi area. And we had achieved enjoying the leisure of the Expo 2010 without any crowds in the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). The UBPA is an exhibition district for representative cities around the world to showcase their innovative practices in urbanization. The UBPA also acts as a platform to connect cities in sharing their experiences in urban construction and development. Various representative cases are shown via exhibitions, presentations, seminars, workshops, networks, display boards, events, and performances. Showcase portfolios demonstrate a remarkable range of implementations and solutions to improve the quality of city life. Sample displays include low-carbon city, eco-housing, eco-art, sustainable urbanization, utilization of culture heritage, and technological innovations in built environment, etc. Apparently, UBPA is a good place for learning rather than entertainment.

Eco Housing

The UBPA includes a number of case pavilions and four Cases Joint Pavilions. Please refer to the page end of the Site Maps and Pavilions to view a full list of the presenting city cases from various geographical regions. In the northern part of the UBPA, built cases are demonstrated in simulated urban blocks. There are Case Pavilions of Alsace, Chengdu, Hamburg, London, Macau, Madrid, Makkah, Ningbo, Odense, Rhone-Alpes, Shanghai, Vancouver, and Xian. All of these case pavilions are close to each other. Therefore, there is no need for visitors to walk a long distance under the strong sunshine from one pavilion to another. In the central and southern part of the UBPA, several presenting cases are sharing under a large Cases Joint Pavilion. The temperature of Shanghai was as high as 35 degree Celsius at the time of our visit. Fortunately, we escaped from the hot weather by staying indoors to see a great variety of exhibitions in the UBPA.

London low-carbon case pavilion

We enjoyed very much our touring in the UBPA. There were no crowds, and the environment was naturally refreshing. We went straight into almost every pavilion without lining up for admission. When we were seeing a queue of more than 15 people, we returned later to achieve a non-waiting admission. Comparing with our first visit experience to the UBPA in May, there were comparatively more people now in July. It is perhaps due to the fact that more people learn about the fast track system requirement in the visits of the UBPA.

We spent a whole day in the UBPA but still had not yet finished seeing the exhibitions in details. There were lots of information to feed our curious mind. Anyway, I had taken photographs on the display board information and would like to learn about them in the later days. Apart from the knowledge acquisition, we also enjoyed the delicious food in the UBPA. There are many restaurants serving gourmet food from various countries. The restaurants were not crowded at all. We took a Spanish dinner at the Madrid Case Pavilion. The food was absolutely gorgeous. After the dinner, we watched the spectacular lighting show which was run by the Rhone-Alpes Lighting Pavilion. And we watched the entertainment show run by the Bremen Town Musicians. What a wonderful relaxing time we had! If possible, we would like to visit the UBPA again. The UBPA is worth visiting. 

UBPA in the evening
 

Bremen Town Musicians Night Show at the UBPA

 

Tips to Bypass Long Queues at the Popular Pavilions Expo 2010 Shanghai

The sign of reservation machine

The organizer of the Shanghai Expo 2010 has developed a few systems in the effort to cut down long queues at the popular pavilions. The most famous scheme is to make an appointment for the admissions to the China Pavilion and five Theme Pavilions by drawing reservation tickets from the reservation machines. Locations of the reservation machines are marked on the Expo map which will be distributed to visitors at each entrance gate. The attached photograph shows the eight reservation machines between the food mall and Portugal Pavilion in the Europe Square near the Shibo Avenue MTR Station. Machines are protected by green covers in the evening when they are not in use. In the Expo park, signs are posted to show the direction to the reservation spots. Please note that the reservation machines under the elevated pedestrian walkway in South Xizang Road close to Entrance Gate 2 only serve for the Theme Pavilions but not the China Pavilion. One Expo ticket is entitled to book an appointment for one pavilion. Tickets for China Pavilion usually finish within 15 minutes in the early morning once the gates open. Admissions to the China Pavilion could also be arranged by the Shanghai local tour if people join an one-day tour to the Expo at 200 yuan including coach transport. Both the China Pavilion and Theme Pavilions are permanent projects. Their exhibitions, therefore, will be continued even after the closure of the Expo 2010.

Direction to the reservation machine

Appointments for the Pavilions of Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Portugal, and Sweden can be obtained via the pavilion reservation machines. The Macau Pavilion only allows admissions with appointments through their reservation machines. The ordinary queue channel is closed during daytime. People without an appointment voucher should attend the pavilion before 9:00pm when there are no more ticket holders. Reservation tickets for Sweden Pavilion allow attendees to play their huge slide as well. The two reservation machines outside the pavilion hand out tickets twice each day, with 600 at 09:30am and 200 at 5:00pm. If visitors miss the time slot which is issued on the ticket, they are not allowed to play the slide but still can get into the pavilion through the priority entrance.
The fast track system is another scheme to obtain reservation tickets, through the collection of stamps from the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA), for the admissions to some of the popular pavilions. For methods and procedures, please refer to my previous blogs dated June 12 and July 8, 2010. The fast track system was initially set up for the admissions to the China Pavilion and Saudi Arabia Pavilion. It, later on, also applied to the admissions to the Pavilions of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. However, the policy changed very recently. It now only serves for the China and Italy Pavilions. Offers for all other pavilions are suspended. This shows that the policy may change from time to time.

Reservation machine in Europe Squar

Fast channel admissions to the Spain Pavilion are granted to those who visit the Spanish Cases in the UBPA of Puxi. After the collection of a total of 3 stamps from the Cases of Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao in the UBPA, attendees have a reward to enter the Spain National Pavilion through the priority channel.  Stamps have to be chopped on the souvenir Expo passport. VIP admissions to the Spain Pavilion had once been offered to the customers who took dinners at the restaurant in the Spain Pavilion at Zone C. However, the policy has just been changed. The VIP admission is now granted to those who purchase a bottle of Spanish wine. VIP access to the Finland Pavilion is offered to the customers who hold the Finnair frequent-flyer membership card or a recent Finnair boarding card.

One may bypass the long queues by making online appointments. Online bookings are available for the admissions to the:
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. general Motors (SAIG-GM) Pavilion at Zone E (www.gmexpo2010.com) - available in Chinese language only
State Grid Pavilion at Zone D (www.magicbox2010.com) - available in Chinese language only
Shanghai Corporate Joint Pavilion at Zone D (www.expo2010scp.com)
Requested information for the online form includes Expo ticket numbers and mobile phone numbers.

The Portugal reservation machine

Reservations tickets for the Shanghai Corporate Joint Pavilion can also be obtained via phone booking by sending SMS to 106575255111 or calling (8621) 55356688 during 9 to 5 office hours. The Finland Pavilion allows phone bookings. One should send a text 85401 plus targeted time slot to the number 1066666620 (e.g. 584010930 for the time slot 09:30am.) A return message will tell whether or not the time slot is available for booking. If available, one should send a second message 01 plus time slot (e.g. 01 + 0930 for the time slot 09:30am). A reservation code will be returned upon successful booking.

During the period from August 22 to 28, visitors can cut in line for the admissions to the Netherlands Pavilion if they purchase a special Green Transport Card at 40 yuan (US$5.85). The card is issued by the Expo organizer, and half of the income will be donated for planting trees in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The Pavilions of Spain, Norway, Luxembourg, USA, and Brazil now consider offering fast access to the card holders in September. The sale point of the card is at "We are the Family" Pavilion in Zone C.

People who register with the official Expo online visits will automatically enroll in the lucky draw for the admissions to some of the popular pavilions. The assigned pavilions may vary from time to time. For example, those who visit the virtual USA Pavilion online today (August 13, 2010) between 10:00am and 2:00pm will be entered for the lucky draw to win a fast access to the real USA Pavilion with a free meal at the Pavilion's VIP room.

Some of the national pavilions give priorities to their citizens. Priority accesses to the France Pavilion are granted to the visitors holding a valid French passport. Similarly, the Canadian can go straight into the Canada Pavilion through the priority channel. There are many ways that you could bypass the long queues. Keep an eye on the update information from the official Expo website.

Recommended Expo Entrance Route - Less Walking and Less Exposure to Sunlight

Map showing the way to Expo Gate 9

Today, August 8, 2010, marks the 100th day of the World Exposition 2010 since its opening in Shanghai. As to date, the total accumulated numbers of visitors have exceeded 37 millions. With a huge amount of visitor flow each day, many people are keen to identify the easiest route for Expo entries. Which is the easiest access entrance gate? Which gate is the one with the least numbers of people waiting? Which gate saves visitors' energy in walking? Which gate provides more shades? In addition to the entrance gate information that I have written on June 16, 2010, I am going to provide you with the update condition that I have experienced.  

Expo Entrance Gate 9

On the first day of our arrival at Shanghai in the July visit, we planned to go to the Expo in the evening on the same day. We traveled to the Madang Road MTR station via Metro Line 9. To get change to the Metro Line 13 which only serves for the Expo site, we had to go through Expo Entrance Gate 9 on the ground level. Please refer to the map from the attached photo that I had taken from the signboard at the Madang Road Metro Station. After we had got out of the underground, we walked along a street without any shades for about 15 minutes to reach Expo Gate 9. The sunlight was still strong even though it had already been 5 o'clock in the late afternoon. Fortunately, there were only a few visitors waiting for the security check at Gate 9. The waiting area was empty, and there were cooling mists released from the top of the shelters to lower the temperature of the environment. Please refer to the video below. After we had passed Gate 9, we went straight to the underground (Line 13). Getting off the train at the Shibo Avenue Station, we reached Zone C of Expo Pudong section. Due to the distance walk for the link of Metro Line 9 and 13, I personally won't put this route as a first priority for recommendations. However, if people would like to go to the southeast of Zone C or west of Zone B, this route facilitates their traveling. 

The area in front of Entrance Gate 8

As mentioned in my previous blog dated June 16, 2010, the Expo Entrance Gate 8, Houtan Road, receives the greatest number of visitors each day. The distance between the Houtan Metro Station and Expo Entrance Gate 8 is around 20 minutes walk, and there are not any shades. Due to the availability of the free shuttle bus for the connection of the Metro station with the Expo gate, visitors can save their energy for the walk. However, if you go there during peak hours, you may need to spend tremendous time in queuing for the shuttle bus. We didn't meet crowds of people as we reached there at 11:00am. In the waiting area of the gate, there are more shades, and there are more pipes delivering cooling mists. After passing through the gate, visitors need to take a 15-minute walk across a large square to reach the nearest pavilion or shuttle bus stop. There are not any shades in the square.This route may have more chance to expose to sunlight. However, if people will target to go to Zone C for the European National Pavilions, this is the fastest route.

Pedestrian walkway Entrance Gate 2

We have tried various admission routes. Among all, I prefer going via Expo Entrance Gate 2 because it is just located by the side of the South Xizang Road Metro Station. This saves visitors' energy for the walk from the metro station to the Expo entrance. Visitor flow is comparatively small at this entrance as this is the Puxi section of less interest to visitors. When we reached this gate at 09:00am, the peak hour, there were not many people waiting for the security check. Therefore, we quickly passed the gate. After getting into the Expo site, we walked for less than 15 minutes under the shades on the elevated pedestrian walkway to reach the shuttle bus stop. One of the bus routes goes within the area of Puxi. Another bus route goes to Pudong via the cross-river tunnel. We got onto the cross-river bus, and it took 6 minutes to reach the first stop at Pudong. This stop is sited in the area behind the Japan Pavilion. Out of our expectation, this bus route is quick and convenient. If we took the ferry, we would at least wait for half an hour. The bus continues going along the Shibo Avenue in where many popular pavilions can be accessed. I find this route with the least walking distance to reach our targeted pavilions. This route is the one with least exposure to sunlight. Therefore, Expo Entrance Gate 2 is my recommendation.

Expo Entrance Gate 9, Madang Road, with release of cooling mists to lower the temperature of the environment

Flying in the Latvia Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai

Latvia Pavilion night view

Hey! Can you fly? Yes, you may have the chance to fly in the Latvia Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai.Through the glass wall of the vertical wind tunnel of the Latvia Pavilion, I saw two men fly freely and happily (see video below). They looked rather like the astronauts flying, springing, tumbling, looping, and skydiving in the air. It is amazing and fantastic. This is the Technology of Happiness designed in Latvia by Aerodium. It is specifically developed for the Shanghai Expo 2010 with the application of advanced technology. The show of the Technology of Happiness lasts 30 minutes, and the capacity for audience is about 400 persons.

The outlook of the Latvia Pavilion is unique and pretty. The external wall is covered with 100,000 pieces of transparent plastic plates with the size of 15 square centimeters each. When the breeze is blowing, the plates flutter and shimmer. The majority of the plastic plates are in silver color. In between, there are red, yellow, orange, blue, and green plates to symbolize the beautiful nature such as land, wind, sky, forest, and ocean. At the entrance of the pavilion, there is a spiral staircase leading to the top floor. This represents human's continuous effort in moving life to a better level.

Entrance to the Latvia Pavilion

There are three levels in the pavilion. The first floor is a Latvia souvenir shop and cafe. When I was sitting in the cafe to finish my lunch, I on and off heard some vibrating noises coming from the above. It sounded like an airplane engine. At that time, I knew nothing about the pavilion. What was inside? After the pavilion visit, I recognized that it was the engine from the base of the wind tunnel. The second floor of the pavilion is mainly a platform on where the lucky visitors prepare themselves for flying. Here they receive instructions and training, sign the required legal forms, change into Aerodium outfits, put on helmets, and prepare to go upstairs to the wind tunnel. The third floor of the pavilion is the exhibition hall in where the show is conducted. The vertical wind tunnel which is surrounded by circular glass walls stands at the center of the hall. There is a glass door. By the side of the door, there is a control room with machines and buttons.  But we didn't see anybody there throughout the period of the show. In the outer area of the tunnel, there is an one-meter high barrier to avoid visitors getting too close to the glass wall. Outside the glass wall, there is staircase going down to the lower level. This also acts as the entrance from where the performers come up to the stage. On the floor of the tunnel, there is a large cushion for preventions of injuries.

Top of the vertical wind tunnel

Apart from the vertical wind tunnel, there are interactive computers hanging on the walls of the exhibition hall. This allows visitor participation. Visitors can learn something about Latvia from the slide shows. After watching the Technology of Happiness, I continued staying in the hall. Nobody asked me to leave the pavilion. Therefore, I watched the Technology of Happiness again. I took lots of videos. However, the reflected glare, as caused by the afternoon sunshine, on the glass wall had led to a mild defect on the videos.

The Latvia Pavilion is rather small, but its design is unique. I spent half an half in queuing for the Latvia Pavilion during the afternoon peak hours, but I obtained more than I had expected. Not many people would have noticed that such a small pavilion of a small country would give you a stunning reward. After the visit to the Latvia Pavilion, I am interested to learn more about this country which was out of my knowledge. The Latvia Pavilion has successfully built up a good image for its country. I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciations to the Latvia Pavilion. The Technology of Happiness is brilliant and wonderful. Spectators, however, hadn't clapped their hands because everybody was holding a camera or video recorder in hands. Instead, there were excited voices of joy.

Latvia vertical wind tunnel

How can people experience the Technology of Happiness?

Go to the third floor of the Latvia Pavilion. Fill out some basic personal data by logging onto the interactive computer. Answer some questions about Latvia. You will immediately find out whether or not you have been chosen to try out the Technology of Happiness. You need a little bit of luck to have the chance to fly in the vertical wind tunnel. I didn't see any visitor participation in the wind tunnel flying during my visit to the Latvia Pavilion. I believe that there are time zone limits for visitor experiences. Furthermore, I don't know whether or not the activity will be suspended due to overcrowd visits during summer holiday.

Latvia's Technology of Happiness

Latvia's Technology of Happiness