As Maura Elizabeth Cunningham and Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom mention in Yale Global, Chinese officials have been disappointed by the lack of foreigner interest in the World Expo. While foreign media outlets have done their part to talk about and promote the event, very few foreigners are actually coming. Then again, this may just be because, "more than any city in the world, Shanghai already resembles a futuristic fairground even when no circus is in town," making this age's World's Fair redundant. more ›

Just because China is home to the world's largest population doesn't automatically mean that Shanghai Expo will be the world's most well attended World's Fair in history. We've seen what daily attendance has looked like over the past week, and if no major change happens in that figure, then we are definitely not going to get the projected 70-100 million visitors. more ›

Zachary Franklin of DeluxZilla shakes his finger at Shanghaiist for doing "everything short of link every time [Adam] Minter has to hit the bathroom" and springs to the defense of the US pavilion. more ›

• Beijing professor's remarks spark angry protests [AFP] "About 30 protesters tried to force their way into China's elite Peking University on Friday to confront a law professor who said 99 percent of the people petitioning the government with grievances are mentally ill and could be institutionalized."
• Chinese Online Games Market Grew 63% In 2008 [Gamasutra] "New data from analyst group Pearl Research shows that China's online games market grew 63 percent in 2008 to a total $2.8 billion. In its new Games Market in China report, Pearl Research forecasts that the Chinese online market will be worth more than $5.5 billion by 2012."
• The Pavilion Wars [The Atlantic] "The upcoming World's Fair should offer the chance to build a showpiece U.S. pavilion. But thanks to behind-the-scenes maneuverings and State Department incompetence, we may end up with a Chinese-funded pavilion—or no pavilion at all."

So why is it that the United States might risk “global humiliation for the American people” by not showing up at the Shanghai World Expo? Well, partially because they don't really know what a World Expo is... and partially because it's awfully hard to raise $61 million without any government help. more ›

A random internet search brought us to this kinda cool poster from artist Steve Thomas. It's a retro-futuristic advert for the World's Fair in 2474 (we guess) that celebrates Shanghai's "Five Centuries of Progress." We suppose that means the 2010 thingy we're hosting goes OK. Ironically, the Pudong skyline used to represent the future in the poster is already the old Pudong skyline. The best part: Entry to the World's Fair is only four credits. And children get in for a half credit! We can't wait until 2474. more ›