China Travel 2.0

Shanghai World’s Fair whets Chinese desire to see U.S. the World

SHANGHAI – The Chinese are coming.

That’s the take-away message from Shanghai expo 2010, the latest world’s fair. Today, they’re at the fair. In coming years, they might be shopping in Dallas.
These expositions are typically a place to glimpse life in other countries and peer into the future. There are 192 countries represented here. There are also hydrogen-powered minibuses wheeling quietly along the streets and a few other futuristic touches.

But Chinese visitors say the experiences they’ll remember most about this fair are the videos – and standing in line.

The Shanghai government estimates 70 million Chinese will visit before the expo closes Oct. 31. That is showing an immense curiosity about the world. On Friday – a dreary, rainy day – there were 460,000 visitors. Saturday’s crowd was 552,000. And this is before school summer holidays that begin in July.

So many Chinese are coming that the American, Danish, Norwegian and other pavilions have stopped issuing souvenir visas in the fake passports used by expo visitors.

“We came all the way across the country hoping for this,” said physician Yang Li, 45, from Aksu, china. “What a pity.”

Zhang Ywen, a 60-year-old restaurant owner from Shandong, said, “Expo is a good idea so we can know the whole world.”

ANDY WONG/The Associated Press
Like most Chinese, Zhang hasn’t traveled outside China. He said he came here to Chinese throngs pass learn about the outside world. He went to the USA Pavilion and enthused about the video of an American girl organizing a neighborhood garden.

What’s next? “I want to see the Japan Pavilion,” Zhang said. Only there was a six-hour wait.

It was just three years ago that the U.S. and Chinese governments signed agreements opening the U.S. market for group tours from China. About 493,000 Chinese came to America in 2008. U.S. officials estimate that they spent an average of $7,200 each on their U.S. trips. Nearly 800,000 are expected to visit the United States in 2013.

Nepal’s exhibit at Shanghai Expo 2010, the latest world’s fair. The Shanghai government estimates 70 million Chinese will visit before the expo closes Oct. 1, reflecting a strong curiosity about the world.

Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Perry led a delegation of 65 Texans to the Shanghai Expo to promote Travel and other business with the state. The week the delegation was here, the USA Pavilion averaged 42,000 to 45,000 visitors a day.
Christine Szalay, who promotes tourism for Dallas’ NorthPark Center, was part of the delegation and met with several Chinese tour operators.

“The Chinese also want to know you’re committed,” she said. “If you take the time, travel to Shanghai and sit down in their office, you have much greater opportunity to convert that into business than someone who sends them an e-mail. And the retailers have seen it in their stores.”

Tourism is a $50.9 billion-a-year business for Texas and employs more than 573,000.

Sheng Ting, a 23-year-old university student in Shanghai, came out of the USA Pavilion talking excitedly with her girlfriend.

“My favorite was the 4-D movie,” she said.
English is a second language in Shanghai that appears alongside Chinese on maps, subway stops and street signs.

Sheng said, “I’m very willing to visit” the United States, “but I’m afraid of getting lost. I can’t speak English.”

Friday, July 2, 2010
*Courtesy – Dallas Morning News

Tags: Shanghai expo, Shanghai World Expo, 上海界博会