Mealtime made more affordable

• Source: Global Times
• [09:27 May 11 2010]
• Comments

"But I can handle these prices since they aren't ridiculously high," he added. "We didn't want to go through the trouble of packing our own lunches today."

But for more of the senior visitors, the discounted food prices were not low enough.

"I've been to the fast-food chain East Dawning in the city before," a woman in her sixties, who checked out several restaurant prices before settling on some biscuits tucked inside her purse for lunch. "A hearty meal there runs me about 20 yuan ($3), but here, the same order of rice and chicken costs 40 yuan."

"Why would I pay double?" added the woman who declined to disclose her identity. "Besides my purpose of coming here is to see all the different cultures from around the world, not for the food."

With homemade sandwiches in hand, other visitors claimed that their choice had nothing to do with prices, but was solely strategic - avoiding crowded restaurants would allow them to save time for touring more pavilions.

Due to the popularity of the Pudong New Area site of the park, hungry visitors should be prepared to wait in longer lineups at restaurants along the eastern side of the Huangpu River.

Those willing to trek over to the Puxi site may have more luck grabbing a quicker bite as at least half of their restaurants remained empty Monday.

"To some extent, there is an imbalance in visitors to the two sites," said Lin. "But once visitors realize there are equally fun and interesting exhibits on the other side of the river, the crowds will likely even out."