Having spent the better part of 24 hours cramped in an airplane or car yesterday, I found myself eager for a walk this morning (which translates to the middle of the night for my body clock as China is 12 hours ahead of Boston). My hotel is located next to an office complex that surrounds a man-made lake, home to several black swans. This is the first time I have ever seen this species and I could have happily spent the morning admiring them. I am traveling in China this week with several colleagues as we visit with a half dozen contract manufacturers and vendors over the next five days. Our first meeting is not until dinner leaving us with several hours of free time. Our first stop was the site of Expo 2010, held on both banks of the Huangpu River in the city of Shanghai. It was a major World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions, the first since 1992 and the largest World’s Fair site ever at 1300 acres.
The China Pavilion, colloquially known as the Oriental Crown, was the largest national pavilion at the Shanghai Expo costing an estimated $220 million. Today the pavilion is home to the China Art Museum.
With limited time we could only afford to spend time inside the Saudi Arabian Pavilion (aka Moon Boat) and the Italian Pavilion. The former features an all encompassing 3D visual experience which is like none other (think iMax movie combined with an elevated moving walkway carrying you through the inside of a giant egg).
The latter, a tribute to Italian creativity and ingenuity, includes a pair of full size Ferraris mounted on one vertical wall and life size seating and instuments for a complete orchestra on another.
After a brief tour of Old Shanghai we ascended to the observation tower of the The Shanghai World Financial Center, a 1,614 foot tall skyscraper located in the Pudong district. We were extremely fortunate to have an uncharacteristically clear day making the views magnificent. Normally the air pollution here is so bad that one would question the need for a building with any windows.
