Shanghai  5 June 2010

After a good breakfast both Asian and Continental with lots to choose from we met David our driver/guide and the other 10 tour members (making us 12 in all) in the hotel lobby.  A nice number of people – 6 couples – making it relatively easy to ferry around in our little people mover and keep the group together.  Then off to The World Expo, held on both sides of the Huangpu River, to do battle with the millions of people there and I mean millions – 2 million visitors to the Expo daily.  Add that to Shanghai’s already 20 mil population and you have a highly populated city.  (At the time of adding this post it was documented that on one single day the Expo received 1.03 million visitors and by the end of the Expo, 31 Oct, it had received 73 million visitors)! 

 Encountering huge line-ups to go into the pavilions, we unfortunately wasted a lot of time just waiting in line only to find some pavilions not really worth the effort.  BUT...  we found a way of cheating the long lines:  because Paul and I both have grey hair (which doesn't seem to be so common in China, even in older people) the Chinese assume we are over 70 years of age and so let us through the quick line entry for the aged and infirm ... oh dear .... the lies ... we will surely go to hell! But what the heck.  We are an object of curiosity and entertainment for the Chinese as well, some never having seen Caucasians before.  The Italian pavilion

The long lines to enter pavilions

The Chinese Pavilion - one had to make an appointment to enter - unfortunately we didn't have the time.

was good, as was Argentina and Peru where we had a meal.  We walked miles and will do the same tomorrow having decided to return – there’s so much to see.   The blisters and sore feet well worth it.   As a matter of interest I purchased a Chinese SIM card for my phone today which cost me 100 yuan = $20au.

In the Italian Pavilion