Booming China on show to world at Shanghai Expo

Booming China on show to world at Shanghai Expo

Sat May 1, 2010 6:55am EDT
(Reuters) - Shanghai opened its multi-billion(数万亿的) dollar World Expo(世博会) to the public on Saturday, showcasing(展示) China's booming(急速发展的) economy and resurgent [rɪˈsɜ:dʒənt](复兴的) national pride [praid](自豪), as well as the latest green technology(绿色科技) from 189 countries.
Visitors reported long lines, and occasional [əˈkeiʒənəl](偶然的) angry exchanges about queue-jumping, to get into some exhibitions in the enormous [iˈnɔ:məs](巨大的) Expo site [sait](地点), which is 20 times bigger than the last World Expo held in Spain's Zaragoza in 2008.
Separate tickets for the most popular pavilions [pəˈvɪljən](展馆), such as China's, were in short supply.
"This is a great event as it's a good forum [ˈfɔ:rəm](论坛) to communicate with the world," said Shanghai resident Lao Chen. "But it's very disorganized [dɪsˈɔ:gənaɪzd](无组织的). There are just too many people in China."
Another visitor, a retiree [rɪˌtaɪərˈi:](退休者) from Shanghai who gave his family name as Zhao, said he was upset not to be able to get into the hulking [ˈhʌlkɪŋ](庞大的) China pavilion, one of the few that will not be demolished(摧毁) when the six-month extravaganza [ɪkˌstrævəˈgænzə](娱乐表演) ends on October 31.
"I will never be able to see it. I can only look at it from the outside, and what's the point of that?" he said, bitterly.
But others said they were enjoying themselves, adding they thought it was money well spent by the Chinese government.
"It's not a matter of money. It's our pride that China can host the Expo," said 30-year-old Ning Lifang, a bank clerk from the nearby city of Suzhou.
China says it has spent $4.2 billion -- double what it spent at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- to host the world's largest exhibition. It is the most expensive Expo to date and local media have reported the true cost, including upgrades to the city'sinfrastructure [ˈinfrəˌstrʌktʃə，ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃə(r)](基础设施), is closer to $58 billion..