Expo schedule on target
- Source: Global Times
- [01:48 January 19 2010]
- Comments
Lights inside the main buildings at the Shanghai World Expo are being tested last night, just days before the 100-day countdown. The expo is set to kick off in May and run through October. Photo: CFP
By Deng Jingyin
Preparations for the World Expo in Shanghai are rolling along smoothly, with 90 percent of the pavilion construction completed, officials said at Monday at a news conference in which they also promised to provide an ample supply of public toilets.
Presently, 192 nations, 50 international organizations and 18 corporations have confirmed their participating in the event. For the online version, some 224 countries and international organizations will participate.
Yang Xiong, vice mayor of Shanghai and deputy director of the executive committee of the event, said they welcome suggestions from the public on improving the online expo.
The Shanghai World Expo will be held from May 1 to October 31 with an opening ceremony on April 30. Yang said more than 18 million tickets have been sold as of January 17.
More than 70 million people are expected to visit Shanghai during the event, posing a big challenge for public facilities and transportation.
"We have learned from the experience of Expo 2005 Aichi in Japan, which had a shortage of toilets," Yang said. "On average, there will be 400,000 people visiting the expo each day. We plan to build 8,500 toilets in total. There will be 20 toilets for 1,000 visitors, compared with 7.47 in 2005."
The government has made it a priority to improve the transportation network. More than 10 special bus lines, 90 bus routes and 5 subway lines will take visitors to the Expo area.
"Five tunnels were built specifically for this Expo, some of which have been opened for public traffic and the others will be completed in the next two or three months," Yang said.
There are some limits. For example, just 50,000 people will be allowed to visit the China Pavilion each day because of limited capacity.
"We hope visitors can understand that we have made every effort to build the pavilion big enough," Yang said.
Low carbon emission is also on the minds of expo organizers. The expo will use solar power units, which could generate up to 4.6 megawatts daily, and all buses inside will use green energy like electricity, a move to realize zero emission.
"The measures help reduce 60 to 70 percent carbon emission to reach carbon balance," said Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
