Organizers reflect on achievements as World Expo reaches 100th day

• Source: Global Times
• [08:49 August 09 2010]
• Comments

A girl holds a giant postcard bearing best wishes for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai on the Bund Sunday. Photo: IC

By Ni Dandan

The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai celebrated its 100th day Sunday, with officials citing the increases in crowd control and food safety as primary achievements.

"We had numerous problems when the event first started, but now things are getting more orderly and smooth," Yu Zhengsheng, Party chief of Shanghai, said at a meeting last week, where Expo organizers exchanged their experiences of handling daily affairs in the Expo Park. Yu added that the persistent efforts by organizers and pavilion staff as well as cooperation from visitors have been key to solving such problems.

From the daily average of 280,000 visitors in May to 450,000 in July, pavilion management teams agreed that cooperation from visitors has been crucial to keeping things in good order.

"No matter whether they're queuing up outside or touring around the exhibition, visitors have shown us their increasing patience," said Dietmar Schmitz, commissioner general of the Germany Pavilion.

As one of the most popular destinations in the Expo Park, the Germany Pavilion has received more than 2 million visitors in the past three months.

Promoting low-carbon ideals have been a theme of the Expo, with organizers deploying new-energy buses in the park that have zero emissions, using chairs made of recycled materials, and installing an intelligent waste processing sys-tem to deal with refuse.

"I now put two cola bottles in the water tank of my flush toilet to save some water and the air-conditioner in my family is always kept above 26 C," said Yin Mingqi, a primary school student in Shanghai, adding that visits to the Expo taught him many ways to help protect the environment.

The role of Expo volunteers was also hailed as vital to the running of the park. As of the end of July, a total of 35,000 volunteers from China and abroad have served visitors to the Expo Park. More than 1 million volunteers have been working at different spots across the city for the Expo.