The Expo is over! How strange does it feel that this event, which we've all been hearing nonstop about over the last two or three years has now finally drawn to an end. With the deconstructing of Expo grounds on the horizon, we've got so many questions: How will the Shanghai government justify its public work projects now? Does this mean the “Better City, Better Life” slogan can now be retired? What will happen to all the Haibaos still plastered around the city? more ›

Here's our last installment of "How I survived Golden Week," about one of the busiest pavilions in the Expo during what was supposed to be one of the busiest weeks - National Holidays. Scott Goldman is a student ambassador from Duke university who works with the Protocol team at the USA Pavilion. Here's a peek into his day. more ›

What's it like to work the Expo at one of the busiest pavilions? We asked several USA Pavilion staff to record a diary of their day during Golden Week during what we expected to be one of the busiest weeks. (It didn't turn out quite so. The numbers for that week were actually lower than usual, probably due to the ticket price mark up for the public holiday...much to the relief of all Expo staff.) Amy Kao is a student ambassador from UCLA who works with the Sponsorship team. Here's a peek into her day. more ›

What's it like to work the Expo at one of the busiest pavilions? We asked several USA Pavilion staff to record a diary of their day during Golden Week during what we expected to be one of the busiest weeks. (It didn't turn out quite so. The numbers for that week were actually lower than usual, probably due to the ticket price mark up for the public holiday...much to the relief of all Expo staff.) Siew Yen Chai is a student ambassador from Rutgers University who works with Facilities & Logistics. Here's a peek into her day. more ›

What's it like to work the Expo at one of the busiest pavilions? We asked several USA Pavilion staff to record a diary of their day during Golden Week during what we expected to be one of the busiest weeks. (It didn't turn out quite so. The numbers for that week were actually lower than usual, probably due to the ticket price mark up for the public holiday...much to the relief of all Expo staff.) Ben Frohman is a student ambassador from Georgetown university who works in Communications. Here's a peek into his day. more ›

What's it like to work the Expo at one of the busiest pavilions? We asked several USA Pavilion staff to record a diary of their day during Golden Week during what we expected to be one of the busiest weeks. (It didn't turn out quite so. The numbers for that week were actually lower than usual, probably due to the ticket price mark up for the public holiday...much to the relief of all Expo staff.) Melissa Monnier is a student ambassador from Hamline university who works with the Operations team. Here's a peek into her day. more ›

While normally we'd save the live music listings until the mid-week, we noticed that this week, the sound party seems to be starting pretty early. So here's some pretty awesome live acts you don't want to miss early this week. Check 'em out! more ›

CNNGo has a article detailing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to the Expo over the weekend, of which I've picked the three little factoids I find the most funny. Like most things on this site that are USA Pavilion related, the type of funny they are leans towards that cringe-inducing Curb Your Enthusiasm-esque type of funny. more ›

Another souvenir post?! you might groan, but checking out the souvenir stores of each pavilion is an integral part of any Expo visit. more ›

Speaking of the Expo, Adam Minter (of the Atlantic, Foreign Policy and his always informative blog Shanghai Scrap) has put up two previously secret documents relating to the USA Pavilion. As you probably know by now, there's been questions about how exactly the USA Pavilion came to be - who chose the team, how come the money's taking so long to raise and heck, why it needs to cost $61 million in the first place. Now memos uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act have lifted the veil on at least some of it. Read Minter's most recent post on it. more ›

The good people at Ogilvy have polled the Chinese peoples and the results are out: Despite knowing almost nothing about the USA Pavilion (and maybe because of that), the Chinese want to check that out the most. more ›

• Abbey Road, the vaguely Beatles-themed pub which shut down for just a little while to "refresh," will be opening up again on January 7 AND they're extending their daily happy hour to 8pm. Opening party is this Friday (you get one free drink if you go).
• There's been significantly more dark ales and microbrews popping up in China, which means (glee!) we might finally be getting some beer culture. We'll believe it when we see something better than Reeb in the Kuaidi. [CNNgo]
• To make up for ragging on the USA Pavilion Expo team yesterday, here's a cool little fact about them: One of the Shanghai Expo Inc. trifecta, Nick Winslow, supervised the special effects for Star Trek - The Movie and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. [Urbanatomy]

When we first read that New York Times article about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's support of the USA Pavilion effort here in Shanghai, something didn't sit quite right with us. It's not that the facts didn't seem correct or anything - but almost no mention was made about why Clinton stepped in to raise money in the first place. Wasn't there already a group of people meant to do that? more ›

Adam Minter is an American writer in Shanghai, China, where he covers a range of topics, including the Chinese environment, religion in contemporary China, trade, sports, and cross-cultural issues between the West and Asia. Minter’s work has been published in The Atlantic, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, Mother Jones, Scientific American, ARTnews, and other publications. He blogs at Shanghai Scrap. Today, he shares five Expo-related reasons he's looking forward to 2010 (in no particular order/ardor). more ›

• Discounts! Bargains! Deals! This week there apparently a glut of savings at Plaza 353 where dozens of stores are beginning to offer promotions and steep discounts in anticipation of the impending national holiday [City Weekend]
• We'll need those savings if we're going to enjoy this hairy crab season. Reports have come out that prices will be about 10% higher than last year because of bigger crabs and higher water quality. [Shanghai Daily]
• In the mood for a classy night out living it up with the fashionistas but don't want to spend a lot? The Frau Ana fashion shows combines a party, fashion, and no cover this Friday. Oh, and there is allegedly free cotton candy. Sweet. [Shanghaiist]

News on the USA pavilion has been somewhat scarce - at least on this site - since it quit being a joke and turned into something real. But now, as we count down the last 250 days to the Expo, it's somehow made its way back on our radar. more ›

• Does this mean all the Haibaos we bought were illegal? The first licensed product store for the Shanghai Expo has opened in Beijing. [BJreview]
• Well, at least everyone at the Expo is bound to be smelling nice - Beauty company Shiseido and France (the country) are both producing two unique perfumes based on the scent of white magnolia. [Creative Match]
• Okay, one last bit about the expo: a survey showed that Chinese women love France, which had the second most popular pavilion, and Chinese men love America, the first most popular pavilion despite not even being confirmed a month ago. [Thomas Crampton]

• The USA pavilion has gotten a spankin' new online update now that it's finally official. [USA Pavilion]
• Who knew that the Shanghai metro was filled with so many explosives! According to China Daily, "The city's police have confiscated more than 6,000 flammable and explosive items from subway commuters since March," [China Daily]
• It's reining-in men in Shanghai's only gay English corner. [City Weekend]

• Aw, so Harry Potter can't seem to cast a spell over Shanghai, earning barely half of what Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen did. Is it because we didn't organize a movie night around this opening? [Shanghai Daily]
• Reacting to the Stern Hu detained in Shanghai saga, Rio Tinto is now pulling ALL of its foreign staff out of China. Allegedly. [CNN]
• To battle potential traffic jams, Shanghai will be employing an even-odd license plate system for the Expo like Beijing did for the Olympics. [Xinhua]

• Ugh, you thought shanghai weather was hot already? Apparently its supposed to have entered the hottest part of summer just yesterday. Also, there will be thunderstorms. Fun. [Shanghai Daily]
• Paul French decries the destruction of old buildings in Hongkou thanks to the World Expo. Sigh, not everybody can have the semi-fabulous fate of Taikang Lu and Xintiandi we guess. [China Rhyming]
• On the upside, 13 of the city's parks are going to be upgraded this year (most likely for the same reason old buildings are being destroyed). On the list are Changfeng Park, Shanghai Botanical Garden and Shanghai Zoo. [Shanghai Daily]

The folks at ChinaTravel.net noticed a little (or perhaps not so little) something about a recent image of Haibao: more ›

• Well, good for the US expo team. They were able to miraculously sign the official Expo confirmation of their presence on Friday despite only having half the funds they wanted just last week. [Shanghai Scrap]
• Speaking of the Expo, new lottery tickets - with proceeds going to Sichuan earthquake charity funds - will feature Shanghai's 2010 pride on them. [Xinhua]
• One of the best sommeliers in China is in Shanghai! Vivian Tian of Kee Club took second place in the China National Sommelier Competition and wins a trip to Argentina for her good nose/taste buds. []

For those following the will they - won't they debacle regarding the United States pavilion at the 2010 Expo, the latest news is that the US will officially be attending. Not only are plans on track to sign a contract, but -what's this?- fundraising is right on target! more ›

So despite the U.S. promising to be at Expo 2010 and Hillary Clinton allegedly confirming its participation, Shanghai World Expo organizers still haven't actually received the letter of confirmation, according to Xinhua. It's only when this letter gets into the Shanghai World Expo's very eager hands that a country's pavilion is truly confirmed, apparently a completely different matter than whether someone has been appointed as Commission General of the pavilion. So why did the U.S. Secretary of State publicly appoint Jose Villarreal to his Commission General position if nobody had yet to actually apply with the Shanghai organizers? It's all too confusing for us so we'll just direct you to the much more capable hands of Shanghai Scrap. more ›

• Danny Boyle, talking at the Shanghai International Film Festival, has taken a stance against censorship in thsi country. [Guardian.co.uk]
• Want to hear more about what Danny Boyle has to say? Check out That's Shanghai's interview with him. He reveals that Ewan McGregor will be here today, which is all we wanted to know anyway. [Urbanatomy]
• Speaking of, Peter Chan has unveiled his huge 44 million RMB set - a recreation of 1905 downtown Hong Kong - in Shanghai for his upcoming film, Bodyguards and Assasins, as part of the SIFF. [Straits Times]

• The BBC has a great picture slide show of the “spouse market” in Zhongshan People's Park, where worried parents put their kids' resumes up in hopes of finding them their significant others. [BBC]
• Being the good neighbors that we are, Shanghai has donated 50,000 face masks to our Japanese “sister city,” Osaka. Did anyone even know Osaka was our sister city? [Xinhua]
• The USA Pavilion just got their fourth sponsor - YUM Brands (the guys behind Taco Bell and KFC). That means they're probably only $50-some million away from their fund raising goals now! [LA Times]

"Over the course of time, received feedback from advertisers and readers that they cannot find copies of the newspaper. Then they heard that China Post was shipping the newspapers directly to recycling centers. The newspaper found out that the newspapers were trucked everyday from the post office branches to warehouses and then resold to recycling plants or stations. What is the economic basis? There are 50,000 copies shipped to China Post each day, 312 days per year. China Post pays 32 RMB per copy to the newspaper. Thus, each copy of the newspaper costs China Post only 32 RMB / 312 = 0.10 RMB. Meanwhile, the price for recycled paper is higher than that. So, there you have it." (From ESWN) more ›

• Prolific Chinese (but English language) blogger Wangjianshuo gives us a second take of the Shanghai Expo site after visiting it with the Australian Pavilion Group. [Wangjianshuo]
• As part of its whole bid to become a "global financial and shipping center," Shanghai's got plans to attract 1000 talented staff from abroad with housing benefits, residency rights, education for children and other perks. [SCMP]
• Curious about what the air looks like in Shanghai? It's not for the light hearted or hypochondriacs amongst us. Scootergrrl shows us what her filters look like after six months on the job. [Scootergrrl]

So the Shanghai World Expo organizers have set another date for when they will finally say “No way, no how, you're too late to build your pavilion now”: June 30. more ›