the China World Expo

Its now August and I have discovered that I did not comment at all about the biggest thing that is going on in China that nobody else in the world knows much about - the China..er... World Expo.

The amount of hype that has gone into this event here in China has a very nationalist feel to it. Unlike the Olympics this is very much a China event whereas the former was a global event. In the media, you can't go a day without a mention of the Expo in some way. It has certainly been the event of the year in China. Seems like everyone in the country wants to come to Shanghai to see it. And this all makes a lot of sense.

As someone who has travel the world a bit and had access to cultures from abroad in a city like New York, the most enlightening thing about going to the expo was the myriad of interesting architecture that are standing side by side. The energy of the expo from the Chinese citizens is also very interesting to observe. The exhibits in these pavillions, however are not terribly intersting.

However, from the eyes of the average Chinese this is probably the only chance for them to see exhibits from all over the world and actually get to meet the citizens from other countries who are working there. These are people who have never travel abroad and perhaps had some misconceptions dispelled by attending an event like this.

Whereas the Olympics was an opportunity for China to showcase itself to the world, the World Expo was the world's chance to showcase themselves to China.