Size matters at Shanghai Expo 2010

The first World’s Fair housed in Crystal Palace covered an area of about 20 soccer pitches.

Its successor show that opens in Shanghai tomorrow is the size of two Monacos. The China Pavilion alone is the equivalent of 35 football fields. At Shanghai Expo 2010, size matters.

The 1851 Fair showcased Britain’s industrial and innovative prowess, not to mention its status as the superpower of the age. China has not tried to disguise that the first Expo to be held in a developing country offers similar opportunities to show off.

President Hu Jintao said on Thursday: “Shanghai’s hosting of the World Expo is the pride of all Chinese people.”

The numbers are jawdropping. China has spent more than $US58 billion compared with $42 billion for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Shanghai’s subway system has doubled in size in just a year.

A third airport terminal opened just weeks before the May 1 opening. A remodelling of the famed riverfront Bund where Shanghainese stroll in the evening with the pooches and tourists gaze at the 19th century art deco mansions on one bank and 21st century futuristic skyscrapers on the other cost $US700 million.