World Expo 2010 Shanghai China: 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.