Shanghai enters year of the Expo

As the New Year's bell sounded, Shanghai officially rang in the year of the Expo. Now an ambitious and creative World expo village is being planned, as construction on the event's infrastructure and buildings is being completed.

The China Hall, the Theme Pavilion, the Expo Center, Performance Center and the Expo Axis are the five major permanent sites for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Currently, construction on the Expo Center has been finished; with the China Hall and Expo Axis expected to be completed soon. The Performance center will be finished by March.

Meanwhile, accommodation for delegates from the 242 participating countries, regions, and organizations, has been put into use, except for one guest building. All 11 joint halls and 42 rented pavilions have been completed, with exhibition displays being set up. The joint halls and rented pavilions will accommodate 150 exhibitors.

Xi Qunfeng, World Expo Bureau, said, "The construction of all the sites built by organizers are completed. The rented pavilions and joint halls have also been finished. Some of them have started setting up displays."

In the Expo village, there are 42 creative self-built halls constructed by participant members. Currently, the construction on most of the self-built halls are finished, with 26 expecting to set up their displays by Spring Festival. Construction on the Australian Hall is racing ahead, having finished one-third of their exhibition arrangement.

Chief Construction Officer of Australia Hall, said, "We need to guarantee Australia's performance during the World Expo, and also guarantee the success of the Expo, that's why we are doing our work so fast."

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo will last from May 1st to October 31st. Tourism authorities are now expecting to welcome 70 million visitors from all over the world.