Zero Carbon Building at Expo 2010 Shanghai

ZED Pavilion

ZED stands for Zero Energy Development. A ZED is a building that generates sufficient renewable energy for its site's use. The ZED Pavilion, situated at the Urban Best Practices Area in Shanghai Expo 2010, is the first zero carbon building model exhibited in world expositions. The ZED Pavilion demonstrates the design of zero energy. The pavilion building simulates a  large-scale zero carbon development in the United Kingdom. In the project, natural energy such as solar power, wind and water power are used. The pavilion building applies low carbon concrete structure, solar sading, Nano coating of exterior wall, super insulated wall, thermal mass, low-e glass, sun spaces, thin film-PV, FSC timber, solar power dehumidification, rainwater recycle, specific water supply system, LED lighting, and green roof.

In the displays, we learn about biofuels, hydrogen power, and how waste water streams can be turned into power. There is a research collaboration between the universities in the UK and China. Research achievement includes the development of a unique-type of temperature reactive window coating that reduces the need for air-conditioning. Using cutting-edge nanotechnology, scientists in Nottingham and China are developing a new generation of high-performance low-cost solar cells.

Zero Carbon Building

Accumulated Visitors Exceeded 70 Millions in Shanghai Expo 2010

Crowds at Entrance Gate 7

Today, it is the 177th day of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. There remains 7 days to reach the end of the Expo. Visitor enthusiasm persisted even though it was raining hard yesterday. One of my friends experienced a rainy day in his second visit to the Shanghai Expo last month and said that the rain made their Expo activities become difficult. Due to the hot weather in Shanghai summer, many people planned their Expo visits in September or October. It was cooler after mid September. The weather, however, was bad in most days. This pushed the number of visitors to the highest level in October. On the last day using standard-day tickets (160 yuan each), visitor counts reached 837,500 yesterday. From today onwards, admissions require peak-day tickets (200 yuan each). As of today, the accumulated visitors exceeded 70 millions which was the expectation from the Expo authority for the entire period of Expo 2010. This figure is the highest visitor volume in the world record of a single Expo.

A 62-year-old Japanese housewife, Tomiyo Yamada, is a super fan of world expositions. She has been given the name of "Expo Grandma" because of her high attendance records to world expositions. She has been visiting the Shanghai Expo each day since the opening on May 1, 2010. Yamada greatly enjoyed her first experience at Expo 1970 in Osaka of Japan. She then made a world record of Expo attendance by visiting 243 times at Expo 2005 in Aichi of Japan. She has moved to Shanghai with her family to facilitate daily visits in Expo 2010. Her husband has purchased the tickets for all 184 days for Expo 2010.The Expo Grandma is keeping a diary for her Expo journey. Her diary is full of Expo stamps, photographs and signatures. 

One Million Visitors in a Single Day at Expo 2010 Shanghai

Queuing for admissions

Today is the 170th day of Shanghai Expo 2010. As the Expo will come to an end in 2 weeks' time, many people attempt to grasp the last chance for the visits. Visitor counts dramatically increased in the recent days. There was a relatively low visitor volume in September because it was raining in most days. The favorable October weather in this month has pushed the number of visitors to the highest record. Over one million visitors flooded into the Expo park on the Double Ninth Festival holiday yesterday. To deal with the huge visitor flows, additional manpower and facilities had been arranged. To date, the accumulated visitors had surpassed 64 millions which is a new record of Expo visitor volume. Both the first week and last week of October are designated to be Peak Days on which tickets cost 200 yuan each. Holders of standard-day tickets (160 yuan each) for the ordinary days will be allowed to visit the Expo park in the last week if an additional charge of 40 yuan is paid. The standard-day tickets can be used in non-peak days or change to 2 evening tickets. 

4D Cinema at USA Pavilion Expo 2010

The USA Pavilion, located at Zone C of the Pudong section, is one of the large-size pavilions in Shanghai Expo 2010. The pavilion architecture is simple but beautiful, shaping like an eagle with open wings. Separated from the exhibition areas, an American restaurant is situated at the rear part of the building. There is a waterfall running on the side wall at the  main entrance to the exhibition hall. What are the exhibitions? In contrast to visitors' expectations, there are not any high-tech products or  demonstrations of the latest achievement in advanced scientific technologies. Instead, the exhibitions highlight the American culture and values in building a harmonic community with better urban environment. The theme of the pavilion is "Rising to the Challenge". To express the American spirit, three films are shown. Although there are not any stunning effects with the films, the stories are meaningful and educational.

The first film was taken place in an open hall without any seats. The film showed a street interview with the local residents in the United States who were making their first attempts to speak Chinese. There were warm greetings and there were jokes when the native Americans were striving to say "Hello" or "Welcome to the American Pavilion" in Mandarin. These friendly greetings came from people of various ages, ethnicity, and occupations. The audiences responded in joyful laughs and smiles when interviewers were uttering the new language in a funny way. The key elements of the second film were welcome speeches from Hillary Clinton, the Secretory of State, and Barack Obama, the President of the United States. The last film entitled "The Garden" was a movie with 4-dimensional effect in the expression of the passion of  a 10-year-old girl for the improvement of living environment. The outcome of the story emphasized that an individual effort from a little girl could make a great influence to the neighbors for community building. There was not any dialogue but songs and music in the film. When storms and rains appeared  in the film, water sprinkled from the ceiling of the cinema on our heads. The  real sense of raining made everybody yell with surprise and fun. After we had finished watching the movies, we came to an exhibition hall where American business firms were advertising their products. The USA Pavilion had been criticized of being too commercial in the States. I think it should limit to the last part of the exhibitions.

There are three films in the USA Pavilion

What have we learned from the Germany Pavilion?

Showcases for new inventions and new products have long been the main focus of world expositions. In the Germany Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010, there is a section showing the advanced technologies of the latest German products. Exhibitions include both traditional visual displays and interactive programs. Numerous products are displayed. These include environmental friendly vehicles with fuel cells in battery electric drive, water-saving shower heads, halogen light sources, professional audio equipment, compact video intercom systems, universal mobile phones, and ergonomically optimized aircraft tableware etc. Visitors could play around with the interactive programs such as simulation cooking through the touch screen of the German glass-ceramic cooktops. 

The following section displays numerous types of new materials which are of specific effects and benefits.  For example, there is a display of ecological thermal insulation building material. There are High-Tech polycarbonate sheets suitable for a wide range of applications, such as roof tops, facade glazing, thermal protection for machines, and lighting strips. These sheets are superior to other plastic sheets. There are T shirts manufactured from biological recycle materials. They are safe  and will be decomposed after a certain period.

Interactive programs in Germany Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai

Iceland Pavilion at Expo 2010 - Small is Beautiful

Iceland Pavilion

Iceland Pavilion is one of my favorite programs in Shanghai Expo 2010. It has a comparatively shorter waiting queue when comparing with most popular pavilions. Iceland was seriously affected by the global financial crisis in 2008, and it was threatened by a volcano eruption early this year. The Iceland Pavilion has a mediocre outlook. Therefore, people don't expect that the Icelandic government puts much resources in the current world exposition. In fact, the financial cost is partially supported by business companies. The Expo is a bridge for the Icelandic business entities to land China. The Iceland Pavilion is small but beautiful in the presentation. All my friends who have been there also highly praise it. When entering the pavilion, we immediately developed an Icelandic feel because the hall was very cold. This was a very pleasant refreshing sensation after waiting for half an hour in the very hot weather at the pavilion entrance. With limited resources, the pavilion provides visitors with the best entertaining program.

There is solely a cubic hall inside the pavilion, and there are no decorations at all. All around the four sides of the hall are white screens. In a small area, the pavilion provides visitors with a stunning effect by making movie projections on the four sides as well as the ceiling of the hall. The movie mainly presents the Icelandic natural landscapes and disturbances including glaciers, waterfalls, oceans, geysers, and volcanic eruptions and explosions. When the waterfall image was projecting on the ceiling of the theater hall, we developed an on-site feel that the waterfall ran over our heads. When there were millions of fishes swimming over us, we had an illusion that we were under the deep sea. The amazing visual effect was reflected by the bizarre applause from the audience. 

The Iceland Pavilion is always full of visitors. The monthly number of visitors to the Iceland Pavilion at Expo Shanghai on June 1, 2010 has exceeded the total population of the Icelandic nation.

An amazing visual effect is developed when the movie is also projecting on the ceiling of the theater hall.

Spain Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai

Spain Pavilion

The Spain Pavilion is one of the great attractions in Shanghai Expo 2010. Occupying an area around 6,000 square meters in Zone C of the Pudong section, the pavilion shows its creative architectural design which has won the prestigious international architecture award of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). With the applications of natural materials and advanced technologies, the pavilion features like a hand-weaved rattan basket in beautiful wave shape. That is why the pavilion is also named as the Spanish Basket. The Basket, in fact, is supported by a steel skeleton hidden in the coverage of thousands of wicker panels. The design allows a large amount of sunlight peeping into the indoor areas. Visitors will recognize the benefit of the design particularly at the final exhibition hall. There are three sections in the exhibitions to interpret the theme of the pavilion, "From the city of our parents to the City of Our Children".

The giant baby

The first part of the exhibitions is the most entertaining program. Visitors enter a dark hall which looks rather like a big cave tunnel. Movies are projected on the walls of the cave to produce a stunning effect, including stormy ocean, thunder and lightning, galloping horses, bull running festival, basketball and football matches. In between the movies, there is a staged Flamenco dancing performance. The dancing girl lies down in the dark for a rest during the movie presentation. If visitors have walked fast during this period, they may have missed the live performance. The second section of the exhibitions presents the Spanish history, culture, and urban development in the recent 60 years. Videos are projected on multiple screens hanging around the exhibition hall in different directions. In the final section, an electronic giant baby is displayed in sitting position. The robotic baby is very sweet and cute. He can breathe and turn his head. When he is blinking his eyes, soap bubbles fall down from the top of the exhibition hall. Many child visitors enjoy very much of this program.  

During the period of the Shanghai World Expo 2010, Spain won the football world cup for the first time in the history. Spain made a breakthrough 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the World Cup final at South Africa on July 12, 2010. The joy of the triumph also extended to Shanghai. A banner in Chinese language "Everybody is the champion" was hoisted at the Spain Pavilion in the following morning.

 

Flamenco dancing performance in the Spain Pavilion

Spain - "From the City of Our Parents"

Spain Pavilion - "To the City of Our Children"
 

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

Going to Shanghai Expo Again

Renaissance Shanghai Putuo Hotel

My husband and I visited the Shanghai Expo 2010 in May. We enjoyed the trip very much. It is fantastic. We had acquired a lot of knowledge from the Expo. We introduced it to our friends. They like it too.  We stayed in the Renaissance Shanghai Putuo Hotel which is a branch of the Marriott chain. The hotel was brand new just opened in May 2010 at the time of our stay. It was very nice. Please see attached photographs for the room views The buffet was so rich that it gave us sufficient energy for the Expo walk. The Renaissance Shanghai Putuo Hotel is not close to the Expo site, but it is just next to the underground Metro Line 7.  Therefore,  it is convenient. The deficit is that there are insufficient shopping facilities nearby. There is only a small convenience store and a few low-price restaurants nearby.

Renaissance Shanghai Putuo Hotel

We will be going to Shanghai Expo again. We will take the Cathay Pacific Airways flight tomorrow early morning. Since we know the Expo well, we don't make much preparation. My husband reminds me to bring along with my cap. Last time, I wore my cap even though inside the pavilions. It was because I moved around in the crowds to take photographs and videos. My white cap could easily catch my husband's eyes so that he could fetch me in the crowds. Since we have already visited the most popular pavilions such as the China Pavilion, Saudi Arabia Pavilion, Germany Pavilion, France Pavilion, Czech Republic Pavilion, Spain Pavilion, etc., we expect ourselves to be much relaxed this time. We have planned to watch the shows in the Expo Culture Center, to stroll in the parks, and to dine in the famous restaurants, etc. Hopefully, there is no need for us to join the queues this time. I am cheerful. 

We have checked the weather in Shanghai. It will be sunny with 30 degrees Celsius tomorrow Monday. There will be heavy rain on Tuesday. Both Wednesday and Thursday will be sunny with very hot temperature about 31 degrees.

Germany Pavilion at Expo 2010

Germany Pavilion

The Germany Pavilion is one of the popular tourist attraction spots in Shanghai Expo 2010. Occupying a large area measuring around 6,000 square meters, the pavilion architecture is perceived to be in a combination of three multi-dimensional polygons. The relatively large tops and small feet of the polygons provide visitors with shelter protection from rains and sunshine. Looking from another angle, the polygonal structures appear to have assembled into a sculpture building with partial outdoor decks underneath. The silver outer layer of the building gives itself a robotic-feel character. Indeed, it  is  a membrane type building material. The interior of the building  is very large. It consists of a number of corridor-shape exhibition halls and a round-shape performance hall.

Open area exhibition

The Germany Pavilion is named as "balancity" which comes from the words "balance" and "city". The theme of the balancity aims to emphasize the importance of the balance between urbanity and nature, modernization and preservation, innovation and tradition, community and individual development, work and recreation, and also globalization and nationality. On admissions, visitors receive a souvenir  paper wind-wheel on which there is a pattern of the pavilion logo symbolizing the polygonal shape of the pavilion with German flag colors in black, red, and yellow.

Germany scenery as the background

There are in total 13 sections in the exhibition. The first two parts under an open area demonstrate the natural landscape and scenic suburban areas of Germany respectively. The third part of the exhibition lets visitors experience a dynamic tunnel while standing on a moving conveyor belt. In the fourth section, visitors stepped onto the underwater escalator. Getting to the top of the escalator, visitor will see the harbor view of Hamburg, in a harmony of renewal and preservation of buildings. The planning office in the fifth section displays the constructions of future cities. The exhibition of energy balance shows how solar roofs and a wood chip power plant generate more regenerated energy than houses consume in a year, and as a result surplus electricity is fed into the public power supply network to make good profits. The sixth section is the exhibition of intercultural gardens. These include school gardens and Germany allotment gardens, etc. Kids enjoy playing on a slide, while adults are fascinated with the interactive activities. The seven section is all about new inventions and news products made in Germany. The eighth part is the displays from innovative factories. In the ninth section, visitors view the parks of German cities by covering their heads with a bell-shape equipment in where 360 degree pictures are shown. The tenth part is a workshop of artworks. The eleventh section is a plot for art and cultural performance show. The twelfth part is the dialogue between China and Germany focusing on the improvement of city lives. The ultimate is a show of energy source.   

Pavilion of Public Participation at Expo 2010

Pavilion of Public Participation

The Pavilion of Public Participation is located at Zone B in Shanghai Expo 2010. Its theme is "Our Home". It highlights an idea that "Each Action You take Will change Our Life". By participating in an interactive program, visitors learn about the history and progress of Shanghai Expo before its opening to the public. The first part of the exhibition is named as "Visual Impressions" which brings up an Expo memory in Shanghai. A full record of the Expo 2010 is interpreted via photo exhibitions on a large screen. A great number of photographs are presented. Photo topics include the application, biding and preparation of the exposition as well as the construction of the Expo site. When a visitor is standing within a distant of 2 meters in front of the screen, an image bubble appears and magnify the photograph. If the visitor moves close to the screen, the bubble will sink to the bottom. When moving away from the screen, the bubble rises to the top. The bubble will follow the visitor's movement going from one screen to another. The second part of the exhibition is labeled as "Experience". Visitors can take part in an interactive activity to design an ideal city by selecting images from the touch screen monitor on a machine. Visitors will experience hosting an exhibition and picture the future.

Inside Pavilion of Public Participation

We spent less than 5 minutes on the queue to get into the Pavilion of Public Participation. As the pavilion was not large, visitors finished their touring fast. And only a few of them were interested in the activity participation. We finished our tour in the Pavilion of Public Participation within 10 minutes' time. There were not much to see.

2010 World Expo Post-Visit Reviews

Reservation spot at Zone E Puxi section

I visited the world expositions in Japan and North America previously. Comparing to my previous experiences, I enjoyed the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai of China the most. There were lots of fun and interests. The site was clean, spacious and pretty. Exhibitions were attractive and creative. The only deficit was that too many people flocked to the popular pavilions but were not interested in other displays that were lack of innovative design. In the meantime, I would like to express my overall impression about the organization of the Shanghai World Expo. In my opinions, the Expo 2010 is systematic and well-organized. Facilities are well equipped to prepare for a huge number of visitors. Information services are within easy access. 

A volunteer helps for reservation tickets

The free intra-site transport services gave us a good chance to rest our legs. Among the popular pavilions, queues were mostly organized at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion. There was a cooling machine standing by the queue. The shelters were designed to allow good ventilation. Though waiting for long, the queue kept moving sluggishly. There were televisions over the queuing site at the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion. The shelter for the queues at the Pavilion of Future was covered with artificial grass layers. The grass kept swinging when breezes blew. This created a sense of cooling comfort to us. At the time we were queuing for the German Pavilion, security guards were insufficient. Parts of the barriers were made of soft ropes. Occasionally, we saw a few persons jump into the queue. In fact, there were so many people that the shelter was not large enough to cover all waiting people. Similarly, many people had to line up under the strong sunshine at the UK, Switzerland, and Japan Pavilions. The design of pavilions organized by the Chinese government has already considered the protection from direct sunshine around their buildings. Many pavilions from other countries, however, do not have any external shelters. No matter how many people were waiting outside the pavilions, interiors were not crowded at all. And there was +-not any time limit for visitors to stay in the pavilions. 

Computer screen for selection of tickets

Reservation tickets are required for the entry to the China Pavilion and other 5 Theme Pavilions. When we were passing by the reservation spot at around 10:30am on the first day of our visits, we were still able to obtain tickets for the Pavilion of Future. All tickets for the China Pavilion, however, had gone.

Instructions and directions for the Expo site were clear. There were many volunteers providing help. Shades and resting areas could be found everywhere. Toilets were within easy access. We brought along with an empty bottle, and we could easily get drinking-water to fill it up for a few hours use. Restaurants and ice-cream kiosks were available in each zone. In some resting areas, mist sprays jetted out from the ground to soothe people. It had already been quite hot in Shanghai during May days. The Expo is sited by the river. There were occasional breezes refreshing us. My journey to the Shanghai Expo 2010 was fantastic. I will visit it again in July.