Shanghai home-stay for Expo guests

The Shanghai World Expo is expected to greet up to 70 million visitors. To meet the demand for accommodation, the city has launched a home stay program.

500 families have been selected by the organizers of the 2010 World Expo to be the first batch of applicants to participate in the home-stay program.

Cheng Shuzhi, 2010 Expo Home Stay Family, said, "Our family will provide a quality service to our guests. So people coming to Shanghai will get to know about the every-day life of residents."

Many participants in the home-stay program are also busy making local handicrafts as gifts for their guests. To provide better accommodation many home owners have up-graded their guest rooms.

Lui Xiaoyin, 2010 World Expo Stay Family, said, "2010 is the year of tiger. It means this year will be full of luck. So my handicrafts could be a good way of showing foreign tourists the Culture in areas south of the Yangtze River."

Zhu Jianguo, Dept. Vice Director, Shanghai Tourism Administration, said, "The 2010 Expo home stay program combines family, community, folk and ethical culture. Our initiative is also linked with hotel, catering, and cultural elements. It's designed to show the everyday day life of Shanghai to the whole country and the world."

Event organizers are also expected to encourage tourists to stay in hotels in nearby cities during the expo. They're predicting a massive shortage of hotel rooms in Shanghai during the peak of the 2010 World Expo. They believe the home stay program could help them meet the huge demand for accommodation.