Forty Winks Friday, Expo 2010

Today, as Shanghai wakes to another day with yet another blanket of  smog over the city, my Shanghai friends are posting photos of the the murky skies and hazardous Air Quality Index screenshots. I thought I would hark back to the glory days of World Expo 2010, when the city was cleaned and painted, factories closed down for the six month event. The slogan, Better City-Better life! The air was crystal clear, the skies a vibrant blue, the grey blanket was gone for the duration.

The little cars that whizzed around the 5.28 square kilometre site were a very comfortable place for staff to 

grab a quick nap between jobs.

More than 1.7 million volunteers worked tirelessly at the Expo, 

so deserved a little nap from time to time.

Over 73 Million people visited Expo, the crowds were huge, the queues were long,

the sun was hot so the benches in the shade were popular napping zones.

Six new subway lines opened in the two years before the start of Expo, making transport to the 

site easy and cheap. Many people, who would never get the opportunity to travel to far flung places, 

got to have a taste of many countries in one day...tiring stuff.

There were also many performances, street parades, international food stalls and gardens to look at!

With pavilions of 246 different countries and international organisations to see, many took the 

opportunity to recharge before having their Expo passport stamped with a 'visit' to another country.

Maybe they were waiting for their 'queue holder' to let them know they were close to entering

a popular pavilion. University students made money by holding spots in the long queues

for people, saving them from standing for hours in the sun. 

There were a few grassy areas to relax on too.

I went to Expo a few times myself and it was exhausting, fun...and at least the air was clear and clean!