Experience the Expo on the First Day

On April 20, the Expo Park was opened for the first testing day. On the later news, it was said that 200,000 visitors were in the park on the first day. My 9-hours' experience in the park on that day was like climbing a high mountain with a large group of climbers.

Yaohua station of metro line 8

waiting for security check

It was the early 9am on April 20, I just arrived at the Yaohua station by metro Line 8. The metro station was already full of passengers and visitors. Followed the signs, I walked to the Entrance gate 6 at 9am. Tens of Hundreds of visitors there were waiting for security check. I didn't enter into the Expo Park until to 10am.

Closed China Pavilion

reservation machines

The Expo Park is so large, so it will be very helpful to pick up a free map at the entrance gate. My first destination was the China Pavilion, which was in red and very striking in the zone A. However, the China Pavilion didn't accept travelers any more when I arrived there at 10:30. The whole pavilion was fenced by policemen one by one. The visiting reservation machines beside the pavilion were also fenced.

looking for a way...	expo volunteers
inquiry center was surrounded	Pakistan Pavilion

I had to go on towards to other pavilions. There were mainly the Asia joint pavilions and the city joint pavilion in zone A. Passing by the Asian Square and a full-filled inquiry center, there was the modern Hong Kong Pavilion, which was also already enclosed by expo volunteers. The next City joint pavilion, Pakistan Pavilion and Saudi Arabia pavilion did have their own exotic flavor. I visited them one by one but quickly. The India Pavilion was less of travelers since it was still under construction. My watch was already at 13:00 for a lunch. Although there were some restaurants set along the way, such as Bifentang, Weiqianlamian, KFC and Dongfangjibai, all of them were surrounded by a long line. The food supplied in the Africa Pavilion has been sold out already.

India Pavilion under building

crowded drink bar

Leaving from Zone B, there is the Zone C which has the most pavilions. However, most of the pavilions were building and closed. The UK Pavilion like a large dandelion was closed as early as possible. Thanks for the restaurant in the German Pavilion, where I could purchase a piece of snack to feed my crying stomach although the price was too high. Relatively, the Africa joint Pavilion was empty so I could enjoy it freely. 

long line in front of a KFC	empty icebox
UK Pavilion	Serbia Pavilion

small restaurant in German Pavilion

RMB55/piece

Around 15:00, I took the shuttle ferry to Puxi where the Zone D and Zone E are located. The ferry was large enough to carry 500 people together, very conveniently. These commercial and industrial pavilions were set in Puxi, so the travelers were much less than in Pudong. After visiting several selected pavilions, I finally purchased some food at a KFC and had a short rest. Walking around the Zone E for half an hour, I left the Expo Site by bus at 18:00. The day was so long that I felt into sleep quickly at night!

Taking ferry to Puxi	Puxi
KFC in Puxi