# Shanghai Expo from A to Z



## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

I show you every country which exhibited at Shanghai last years Expo. Well, almost every country....


We start with A like Afghanistan.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Afghanistans motto was *The Heart of Asia*.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Its exhibition could be visited in the Middle East joint pavillon next to Yemen and Bahrain pavillon.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Like most other exhibitions in this joint pavillon, its appeal was rather *bazaar like*


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

btw since obviously the whole Chinese 1.3 bn population went to see the Expo please do not expect artistic high quality photos. It is rather the variety of ideas and the different cultures displayed in the numerous pavillons which count in this thread. 










Next pavillon will be Albania


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Albania had its pavillon in the row house like European joint pavillon.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

The lights were flashy, the video were impressive


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Obviously Albania wanted to present itself as a modernist and trendy country, unfortunately information about the country itseld was limited. Like some other country pavillons it seemed *temporarily out of order*. In these cases the staff had left Shanghai and was later replaced by other.








Pitiful, as Albania is a very interesting country. The scarce information focused on investment opportunites and growing businesses like tourism.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

The European joint pavillon from the outside on a rainy day, Albania is the third from left to right









Next pavillon is going to be Algeria. The first real highlight...


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## Ni3lS (Jun 29, 2007)

How about putting multiple photos in 1 post?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Ni3lS said:


> How about putting multiple photos in 1 post?


Already thought about that. Nevertheless, in some pavillons I will have to put them in multiple posts to avoid this *too many pic on one page* thing.
The more reacts this thread gets, the more clearly arranmged it gets...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Algeria had its onw joint pavillon opposie of the Afican joint.









As the country has no *unique selling proposition* to offer to an ordinary Chinese from the countryside (Egypt has its pyramids, South Africa its football event), the pavillon weas less crowded than others, which means the average population density inside was not significantly above the level from Woodstock 1969.
At the entrance there was a short intriduction to the country showing the countries basic facts.









The pavillons motto was *Kasbah* and given this, they used the space very intelligently. No huge warehouse atmosphere but a labyrinth consisting of small and winding lanes. Main theme was the renovation and infrastructure upgrade of the overpopulated and slightly dillipidated ancient district in Algier (another alternative would have been to tear it down and replace it by appartment blocks but then Algier would have lost its main attraction)










At the corridors sides there were some *shops* or small cafes explaining the life in the Kasbah









The architecture was typical for Algiers Kasbah with Islamic ornaments.









Another feature were some nice photographs from Constantine city









High Atlas mountains









and of course the Sahara desert which comprises the main part of the country

















Upstairs, another highlight, a video animation showing a 24 hour ordinary day in Algiers


















plus some futuristic animation about ongoing construction projects


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Angola.

another proud own pavillon just located next to Algerias and the Afican joint respectively. Distinctive architecture from the outisde.










focus on regionalk information in the inside


















A dancing perfomance was the main attraction. Unfortunately the place was geting too crowded to make some good photographs. Thats a picture just after it had ended.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Argentinia.*

Not much queuing but no real highlights. Visiting it was quickly done.


















The best thing about it was the fantastic restaurant adjacent.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Armenia*










Not the most popular pavillon but interresting though, especially when you take a closer look on it.










Ive been talking to the staff for about half an hour about Armenia, China and the world. Very interesting.









A huge model of a world city project overshadowed by mighty Ararat mountain was its main feature. 









The Armenians want to build a model city of all worlds major architecture styles embedded into a free trade zone like area when I have understood correctly. Unfortunately a lack of investors prevents them to do so.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

So far very nice photos; i will wait to see more


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

thanks. next country is going to be Azerbaijian


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Azerbaijan*










A typical *(post) socialist* pavillon covering a lot of information about recent developments and projects.









The whole exhibition arounded these windows showing what is currently going on this emirate at the Caspian sea.









Very much information but its nieghbour country Armenia was a bit more creative.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Australia is the next one

*I forgot to add Austria, it will be shown later at E*


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Australia*










A huge dusty & rusty red, rounded structure on the edge of the South Asian zone...and a huge public toilet complex.
Well, Australia was surely a highlight and can be roughly divided into 2 areas









First one documented the countrys young history from the Europeans landing near what today is known as Sydney in 1788.










Second was a 3D perfomance show, strongly linked to the Expos motto *better, city, better life* with 3 children of 3 different nationalities growing up in a globalized world.










The whole pavillon was rather aimed at children but was although nice and charming to visit for adults. There was not much queuing as the staff was typically Aussie like relaxed and let a lot of people go inside simultaneously. On the donwside it became quite crowded and pushy inside. 
In the evening the pavillon outside area became a huge open air arena with various live bands performing.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bahamas*

Located in the Caribbean joint pavillon under a big white balloon. Some nicely coloured facades beneath.


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

wow, can't believe your doing every single pavilion! I've always wanted to see what each one looked like (never got the opportunity to visit). thanks for these!


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

travelworld123 said:


> wow, can't believe your doing every single pavilion! I've always wanted to see what each one looked like (never got the opportunity to visit). thanks for these!


Well I did not see all pavillons due to reasons I will explain later....
It took me 12 visits to do this...in the end I mostly went on my own, as nobody was crayz enough to join me. But with some valerian in your veins and some anger management skills you can survive this.

Now its time for the next one, namely Bahrain


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bahrain*

Not very surprisingly, Bahrain found its home in the Middle East pavillon of Shanghais Expo.









To cut a long story short: it was the highlight of this joint pavillon









Hows it going?









Bahrain won because of its cool and modernist design









No crowded bazaar, no scruffy storage room









The design and some creative ideas disguised the quite ordinary content


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Artefacts









But there was one real highlight: a fast moving video animation displaying the countrys history









Starting from the antique ages...









3 more random pics



























Sorry for uploading this loads of pictures, Bahrain was a special case...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bangladesh*










Located in the row house like East/South Asian joint pavillon next to Kyrgyztan and opposite to Mongolia this performance did not exactly meet the expectations.

A rather empty hall with some posters on the wall...not much more. They could have done better. Some captions dealt with Bangladeshs economic success of recent years. The country managed to attract global textile manufacturers to shift their production to the Earths most densely populated country on the Ganges river.










But topics like social conditions for factory workers and sustainable development were not touched despite the Expos motto. The digital Bangldesh 2020 poster had to satisfy its function...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Barbados*








A beach bar in the Caribbean joint pavillon. We did not spend much of the time looking around as we found the staff was very friendly and talkative. We left the pavillon with some gifts like rhum, chutney, pepper sauce as well as some recipes for Barbados (Barbadian?) food.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Belgium and EU*

Belgium shared its pavillon with the EU.









It centrepiece was a giant pink heart.










You could enter this heart through the arterys. 










The arterys gave way to the giant exhibition hall.










The hall featured great ideas like the smurfs and chocolatiers on display.










Look across the hall towards EU










The only pavillon which featured a map showing the main attractions










The exhibition hall gave way to a dark mansion with some video animation









A dark dresse man was showing Belgiums main attractions to the audience. This is the racing track in Spa Longchamps.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

The EU part focused firstly on its hirstory since WW2









Some video animation showing famous sights from Europe









And finally a lot of enviromental topics


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Next one is going to be Belize.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Belize*

The tiny cute country at the Caribbean. You meet their president at the beach wearing espandrillos. The countrys capital is a village of 8000 inhabitants. They have ancient Maya ruins hidden in the almost inaccessiblevirgin jungle. Their EXPO pavillon is slightly less spectacular. 










A lot of shopping...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Nextoneisgoingtobebenin


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Benin*

African joint pavillon. The Bennys were a bit late this time. during our first visit their stand was empty.
Second time we were lucky









The president says hello. Benin is oe of Africas few functioning democracies. 









Like most other subsaharan countries the pavillons layout was museum like with sculptures, masks and paintings.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Next one is going to be Bjelorus, Bjelorussia, White Russia, etc.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Belorus*

The had an own pavillon. A temple like portal... 









surrounded by childrens drawing gave way to the interior









It was the only place except the North Korean where you could see mass processions. 









Their president is a f****** bastard indeed, but the pavillon was not bad at all. The big round somehow created a relaxing atmosphere although the rather obscure country did not really draw a lot of visitors. Most Chinese quickly rushed through it.
We took a closer look at its captions and liked it although it was no real highlight


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Bolivia is going to be the next one


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bolivia*

Bolivia had the best pavillon in joint Latin American pavillon









It was also the biggest by far with its size almost equal to some smaller independent pavillons.









Bolivia (Newton John) gave a good and complete overview about the countrys natural resources and culture.









Its space was used very intellligently with a lot of winding corridors.
*Central meeting point* was the blueish video animation in the middle of the pavillon. 









Some locals were around as well










This moon like landscape was a wallpaper displaying the silver mine in Potosi


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bosnia Hercegovina*

This one was a very special case.









Shanghai had invented the motto *Better city, better life* for the 2010 motto. As you can tell by looking at the exterieur, BoH outside appearance could easily match with the Expos motto








These childrens drawings underlined that children are the most importasnt resource to invest in the future. Things changed when we walked in side (yes, we walked, we did not have to wait!)








The first thing we saw was a train model showing a war destructed landscape. Bosnia Hercegovina was the setting of a long bloodshed between different ehtniques in the 1990s. Not the best point to start from.










But things became more clear when we took a closer look. The battlefield did not refer to the 1990s but tro World War 2. For me as a native German it was quite confusing to see brutal Nazi soldiers and childrens drawings in the same pavillon at the same time.










Later we found out that a famous Chinese war movie was done in Bosnia. For every Chinese from Harbin to Hongkong Bosnia is known for traditional popular war movies. Something like the unique selling propositionj of the country.










The rest of the pavillon was luckily about other topics, there was also a souvenirshop, a snack bar and some friendly locals around making this spot a decent affiar. 
The exhibtron was a bit bland though (lots of empty shelves) and some parts of the pavillon really looked worn and aged.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Botswana*

One of Africas wealthiest nations, the diamant exporting country hat not much to offer in the African joint pavillon.









A giant map was the main draw revealing that there were still a lot of empty spaces in the countries vast interiror. Same applied to its Expo pavillon.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Brazil*










They did a much better job than their neighbours from Argentinia but overall it was not up to par with Mexico










After walking through a tunnel, we entered midsized own pavillon with 2 huge exhibition halls.










Brazil is wellknown for good soccer in China, therefore it was easy for the Latinamericans to meet expectations.










As most other big shows, the Brazilians had a lot of lumination in their place.










The whole place was overcrowded with people. We were unlucky enough to visit this pavillon on the day when Shanghais Expo reorded the most visitors: 1.1 million mainly Chinese people came to elbow their counterparts on that day.










There were few captions and texts about the country, most impression was created by pictures and luminations. The focus lay on the countries vast natural resources. For decent information about Brazilian cities the Sao Paulo pavillon in the urban section was a better deal.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

tbc:banana:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Brunei Darussaalam*

This tiny and bizarre emirate on the north eastern coast of Borneo had its own pavillon on the South East Asian square.










It was one of the smaller and less interesting places though. 










Sultan plus oil plus jungle could be the summary of this rather soulless performance.










No big movies or lightshows, the visitor had to stick to the posters and pictures on the wall.









At least we had learned much about a rather obscure country after visting the pavillon and this was the purpose of visiting it.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Bulgaria*

The southeastern Republic from Southeastern Europe found its home in the row house like Eastern European joint pavillon.










Compared to the the *big apple* of its neighbour Romania its performance could not match and was one of the biggest disappointments. 










Firstly, an owen pavillon would have done this interesting country justice. Secondly most other countries from this region had own pavillons like even the rather small states of Slovakia and the Baltic. Thirdly most of the content was not available in Chinese and therefore useless for most visitors. 

This is a pity, since there were at least a good deal nice photos and captions exhibited, one which I stil memorize was about the upgrading of Plovdivs ancient city district.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Burundi*

The eastern African country with the funny name is little short of miracles in the recent past with a lot of Ethnic conflicts and civil wars which could just be settled. But they made it to Shanghais Expo nevertheless










Unfortunately we took no photos of a great spectacle. They had invited a terrific dancing group performing several times a day. Here you can see the place they were performing on in the background the portrait of mighty President Buyoya.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Cambodia*

An own small pavillon at the South East Asian square. Visitors who had not been to Cambodia before must have liked this one










Most of it was dominated by a pretty cool Angkor Vat replica.










The last section encompassed a souvenir shop. This show was rather to lure potential tourists to Cambodia. There was very little information on modern developments and the recent economic upturn visible inside this pavillon.









Most of


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## Don Pacho (Oct 26, 2004)

So far so you. Nice thread.
Thanks for posting Rinchinlhumbe


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks (for replying), Don Pancho.

we continue with another country, namely Chicago.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Canada, part1*

This nordic country impressed with a no fuzz ultramodern performance. 










No ranches, no cowboys, just cool modernistic architecture










Queuing up took 20 minutes only on that day. Dont aks me why. Normally you had to wait for at least one hour at such pavillons










The pavillons entrance









Bilingual captions









A rare moment being on my own. Only this section contained some real information, depictring the live of different ethniques in major Canadian cities, explaining urban best practice examples and the countries democratic and liberal heritage









Bizarre illuminated structures









changing colours









So after some words at the entry section, the pavillons content focused on atmospheric illuminations









it got very crowded as a lot of people remained there watching it


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Canada, part 2*










Some other views from the pavillons long second section




































The third and last section was the very popular *24 hour in a city* theme, a topic also a lot of other pavillons employed. This is young man waiting for the subway in Toronto in the morning



























After this video perfomance we walked though a long dark corridor waiting for the next attraction unfortunately this was the exit. A long corridor with some texts, some bizarre lighting and a short movie....this pavillon got mixed reviews, but actually I liked it. After a lot of information overflow and simple pavillons in the Carribean joint pavillon this atmoshpheric show was the right place to be. A bit more information about the country itself would have not been too bad.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Central African Republic, part 1*










Similar to Bahrain, a very special case 









Welcome to Inner Africa. You never been there, you do not know a lot about it. A great performance with wooden giraffes and elephants, various sculptures and a lot of photos letting the visitors gain insight into country apart, fallen out of time. 










The pavillon was quite conventional with a typical round hut marking its centre
But with a very nice decoration and a lot of cool items.
It was the place with the most animals on display for sure


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Cool art. Because of the crwods and the hurry, pictures like this were a bit overlooked









and a video showing a lot of photos from this unknow country









its people









including the pygmees


















and the obscure countrys capital Bangui


















even on the photos looking a bit neglected and dillipidated


















We remained at the pavillon for about 20 minutes and talked with the very friendly local people and pitied the other people who only rushed through. Given the countries limited budget, this was a colourful performance.

As soon as the situation in the country improves I would like to go there.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Next one will be Chile, said to be one of the top 5 pavillons


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Do you want to see some more pavilloons? 
No?
Ok, then let me continue.:fiddle::devil:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Chile, part 1*










As already said, the one of the best shows, if not the best of all.










Own pavillon. Fantastic in all aspects: architecture, concept, atmosphere. 










Even the queuing was not too long, just 20 minutes. Chile is not one of the worlds biggest, most popular and powerful nations and theerfore not as known for the ordinary Expo visitor.










The architecture was mainly composed of wood, often wrapped up in bizarre shapes as shown here



















Its motto was *The City of Relationships*









Do you know your neighbours? How well do you know about your surroundings? Where and with whon do you spend most of your time? This mirror with this terrific ad infinitum effect reflected the pavillons thme very well









The updside down kitchen attracted a lot of s visitors









At both visits in this place, politicians or representatives from NGOs did some presentations.









A wooden tunnel in the pavillons center


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Chile, part 2*

The exit









Urban relationships


















Pictures and projects from Chilean cities


















Overview 









The exit. Some guys working inside the pavillon gave us a very thick book about Chilean cities as a gift.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Global cities*

Next pavillon is one of City developments in general










A movie portrayed peoples life in six different cities throughout the world\ 


















Otherwise, there was little text or information









A lot of lights, bleeps and clongs









Therefore, these guys were the main attraction









The pavillons first part was strangely somehow not connected to the rest and showed the Beijing railway station




































and some illumination as well


















Perhaps we were too much in the rush to get the whole meaning out of it


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*China: provinces*










In the basement of the huge Chinese pavillon, China 31 provinces gathered to show a colourful perfomance










Main advantage that there was no hazzles and queuing. No additional ticket was needed to go inside










Not all provinces were that interesting. Qinghai for example merely consisted of a huge white egg with a green carpet, telling us that Chinas mighty streams originate here










Quite surprisingly, the poorer provinces were among the most interesting, namely Tibet, Xinjiang and tiny Ningxia


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## Don Pacho (Oct 26, 2004)

Great so far! Thanks for sharing


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## konik93 (Sep 12, 2008)

Thanks! Not many people know how all the pavillons look like


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## Singidunum (Jul 25, 2004)

Thanks! kay: Keep them coming :cheers:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Cyprus*

A masterpiece of efficiency. Small space filled with very interesting ideas.

Hidden in the South/East European joint pavillon, Cyprus may not be the place you will look for when you are not Cypriot and the first time on Shanghais Expo. But in the end it was worth waiting for it until our very last visit.


Aphrodite, the Greek godness of Love and Beauty has been living on the Mediterranean island for a while as an expat. Then she took some days off to guide the visitors through the Cypriotic pavillon on Shanghais Expo.










The tour was history focused and started at the beginning of it all, around 10000 years ago. When most of the worlds population was still hunting and collecting, Cypriotic people began to construct houses, dabbled in pottery and traded with some other bright chaps from Greek and Turkey.










Some excravations were excavated at the countrys pavillon.










A movie screen marked the center of the pavillon showing the countrys natural attractions.










The second party focused on the recent past and the future., 










Themed as *rethinking public spaces* a lot of interesting architecture and some innovative ideas for sustainable urban development were shown. 

Even the countrys hot topic, the islands partition into two parts was briefly stressed. Some projects focues on exchanging information in bringin the people across both borders together. Unfortunately I do not remember the details.


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## The Cake On BBQ (May 10, 2010)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> yes, and for nowe I can say that it was one of the highlights. But as we approach by alphabet you have to wait for the T. Now we are about to finish C...


Okay, I didn't notice you were going by alphabetical order


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Czech Republic*










Ever thought about where the woird Roboter comes from? The Czechs have always been innovative people, even 45 years of communism could not erase this fact.
It were the Czechs who invented the streamlined limousines (some Germans later copied this and named it Volkswagen Beetle), its the Czehcs who are famous for their avantgarde science literature and movies which also made it across the iron curtain to West German homes, strongly influencing the childhood of this threads writer.
Add Prague, probably Europes most beautiful city, the countrys famous beer and cuisine. And do not forget Vaclav Havel one of the key persons who helped to liberate Eastern Europe


The expectations regarding this pavillon were high and they were fulfilled. 

The otherwise nondescript outside was covered with Icehockey pucks.

Much better the inside which was quite BOHEMIAN showing bizarre, futuristic structures, 









intrigueing light shows



















and an interactive flight simulation through the country. Of course this was what the Chinese visitors loved the most and queud up for.









The pavillons layout offered welcome diversion as it was neither a huge warehouse-like hall nor a labyrinth guiding the visitors from entracne to the exit. Actually the Czechs pavillon was not flat but had a knob in the middle separating the pavillon into two areas, with a small cinema showing the aforementioned famous Czech cartoons, 


















The exhibition itself also included topics like innovation, sustainability, as well as the Czechs beloved icehockey players and the history of Prague 
A small shop selling items like the cute mole Pauli and a restaurant selling gourgeous food - huge piles of knedel ,meat and sauce made this one a well-rounded experience


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Denmark*










All these nordic countries had their own distinctive style and surely were better than average performances: interesting architecture, focus on sustainability and modern urban development. Plus by far not enough capacity to accomodate the Chinese crowds.

Denmark had erected a flashy white snail next to its geographic neighbours. 
As the country is surrounded by sea from three sides, water played a major role. Given the mind numbing heat, the fountains became the pavillons most popular attraction.









Although not all visitors were very amused by this feature









Center of the pavillon was the outdoor pool which got a bit smelly at 40 degrees celsius. 









The small holes within the facade were a nice feature but could not provide enough ventilation

The Danish had sent their national symbol The Little Mermaid for the first time in 97 years on vacation to let her become part of the Shanghai World Espo. A movie showed the transport of the scultpure from Copenhagen to Shanghai.









The sculpture was put up in 1913, and has since then been the symbol of Denmark. Like the Eiffel tower in Paris and the statue of liberty in New York both have been very important for the two cities, so has the Little Mermaid been important for Copenhagen!









Another main feature of the pavillon was the opportunity to go cycling. It was not as exhausting as it looks like...










The pavillon was quite devoid of exhibits. It was rather the combination of water, aesthehtic architecture, cycling and strange smells which made this pavillon worth queuing up.
Some movies portrayed the Danish way of life which might appaear very bizarre to the ordinary Shanghainese: businessmen not living in 50 floor luxury compounds but in a renovated farmhouse, commuting to their office not with a fat SUV incl. driver but with a bicycle, drinking strange green lemonade and eating bizarre black candys (acutally its liquorice) or Nordic sushi (Herring).

I remember a board comparing the two cities of Copenhagen and Shanghai. One feature focused on the number of highrises (100 meters and more): Copenhagen 2, Shanghai 850.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> these 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008 photos? Oliver, 你 也 来自中国 ？


我是中国人，可惜还没出过国境


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## el palmesano (May 27, 2006)

great thread


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

oliver999 said:


> 我是中国人，可惜还没出过国境


我是外国人， 可是我工作和住在上海。
我介绍你去外国看看，是值得的


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

el palmesano said:


> great thread


Thx and it even gets better when I am going to present the outstanding performance *Djibuti*

Located in the African joint pavillon or better: at the Horn of Africa when you look on the map. Surrounded by war strucken and very poor countries, Djibuti with its port has been become something like a strategic hub. Since its independence in 1977 it managed to withstand the regions numerous conflicts and remained in peace. 










Not much to say about its Expo appearance. Not Cerutti, rather Djibouti. Just the usual exhibits, a round hut, some carpets, sculptures and colurful paintings.










Some photos documenting its logisitc importance or some captures about its natural bauty would have been nice. Djibouti is one of the worlds most extreme places, with stifling hot deserts and salt flats located in one of the lowest lying regions of Africa (150 meters below sea level).


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Yep Ive heard Djibouti is starkly beautiful, and one of the bleakest, most inhospitable places for life on Earth - scientists go there to emulate moon landings. Also famed for its beautiful women too.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Great photos, especially the second one, should be worth another thread.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Dominica*










Just a quicky for today.
This was the first one we saw in the Carribean joint pavillon.

The usual collection of wallpapers, artefacts (rhum!) and little else

The most DOMINATING (harhar) thing about Dominica was the cool flag showing the islands national symbol, the Sisserou bird.










Dominica, located in the Southern Caribbean within the Antilles Island belt has managed to keep its enviroment in order. The islands interior is rugged and heavily forested, 200 meter high cliffs fall straight into the sea. The absence of beaches might be one reason why mass tourism has not reached this island and some aboriginal people still leave away in the jungle. The wooden structures shown on the first photo are derived from Dominicas original inhabitants dwellings. The green floor and some posters are a reference to its natural resources.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Dominican Republic*










Despite the similar name and location the Dominican Republic was put up in the Latin American pavillon. Perhaps because of its Spanish speaking population?










The walls were framed by some ancient facades of its capital Santo Domingo one of the oldest existing cities of America. The booths center was ought to be a plaza, with a *hacienda* or straw hut masqueraded which became a show stage for perfomances. Along the plaza some stands showed diverse artefacts, the facades along the wall offered some shopping and movies to watch.










The Dominican Republic was one of the most memorable pavillons in this joint pavillon for two reasons. First, it had a strict thematic approach, making visitors really feel like being there. Secondly, unfortunately its plaza became a notorious Tiananmen square during the day visited, with thousands of Chinese people pushing their elbow along the booths. The pavillon with its dancing perfomances became a victim of its own attraction.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Ecuador*

Sorry guys, similar as with the previous one. 










The Ecuador pavillon was memorable for one reason: it was the most crowded pavillon on the most crowded day. Maybe an attempt of the Chinese to sandwich several million Chinese equivalent to Ecuadors population into this pavillon.










Therefore three facts about this event

As the countrys name already indicates, the Equator was the pavillons theme symbolized by a huge memorial in the pavillons centre. This was a replica of the monument erected 24 km north of the capital Quito where mankind cannot get any further from the Poles.

This memorial was surrounded by a bar and shop. I even managed to grab some barbecued chicken meat. 

Some movies on the wall. 

To put it precise: amazingly, the Expo was well organized and managed to accodomate and direct the masses with no problems. This was a reason why came again and again. This pavillon was the only one I discovered some garbage on the ground. No need to blame anyone, it was just too much.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Egypt*










Probably the most popular African pavillon. When Chinese think about Egypt, they think about pyramids. 
Maybe South Africa could benefit from its soccer world cup, but compared to Egypt, countries such as Angola or Algeria who had their own pavillons cannot really cope with Egypts famous sights.

The result was some queuing but it was acceptable. The pavillons interior was black magic: mystical, dark and spooky with some strange white structures. Except some billboards at the entrance and exit which provided some general information about the country, the show exactly focused on the countrys glorious past by displaying ancient artefacts from its antique era in a mysthic setting. If you could tolerate the noise level, a very atmospheric experience. Turkey, btw., had a very similar approach.

Please do not ask me why I have only taken one photo of this. It should have seserved some more. Maybe my girlfriend can provide some more later...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

next one will be...right: Austria


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Austria*

Pronounced **E*estreich* in the locals German dialect, I simply forgotten it to insert at A, therefore we now put it at E.










The Austrians had threwn up a comparably small but very unique pavillon. For me, it gets the award for the best exterior architecture.










The edgy but somehow rounded structure looked good from all perspectives. There was no painting - they used tiny white and red tiles for the cladding.










Despite the small size the labyrinthic inside provided some diversion and surprises. It started just at the entrance. A typical aline scenery in the background and in the foreground...snow! Given the evil heat outside, it was no wonder that some visitors were inspired to start a snowball fight in the pavillon. I bet, some of the Chinese never had touched snow before in their lives.










Like for most European countries, enviromental concerns were in the focus of the countrys presentation. Some hidden cameras projected landscapes on the pavillons walls and floors making the visitor feel like walking though a small creek in the Alps.










The real highlight was a huge concert hall where some orchestras played classical music. I have not taken photos from this because I was involved in a long discussion with one of the staff workers. The orchestra played some very interesting music, a sort of predecessor of classical music from the 16th century.
The pavillon also accomodated a restaurant which was most of the time out of supply. The adjacent shop could keep its promises to sell Nussecken but like most other items these were ridicoulously overpriced










In fact it can be very challenging to staisfy the needs of all Expo visitors therefore these ladies had to take a break from a long and exhausting working shift.










Overall the Austrian pavillon was one of the best with its minimalist and sleek interior. White, blank walls, the furniture in red or back, the rest was done through illuminations and video. Plus the aforementioned orchestra. But what about the Kaiserschmarrn?


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## JAVICUENCA (Dec 27, 2004)

Wwwwowwww, what pavillions!!


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Thx.

*Short notice about the countries we skipped so far:

Cameroon - same as for Austria, I will add them at K.

Bhutan - had better things to do
Andorra - did not feel like taking the long flight to China
Burkina Faso - they prefer doing politics with Taiwan
Chad - did I overlook them? Did not see anything of them in the African joint pavillon.

Same is for Swaziland and neighbouring Lesotho*


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*El Salvador*

Another one from my beloved and famous Apocalypatic Latin American Joint Pavillon.










Like with most other small booths, the whole performance arounded a main theme. In this case, El Salvador decided to worship its volcanoes, one thing the country is famous for.
El Salvador is a densely populated country with fertile soils and the only e statin Central America not having a coastline at the Caribbean. In the 1980s (and also before) there was a long civil war. Thats what I know about the country. Not much more I can tell about their pavillon. Inside the volcano there was a small shop but the floor was covered with rubbish. Unfortunate timing to visit this pavillon on that special day.
On the outside some exhibits like rhum, stuffed tropic birds and very nice photographs. This is one of them:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

EDIT


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Eritrea*










Inside the African joint pavillon. The usual collection of sculptures and other artefacts plus a camel and some traditional dwellings. Besides zillions of Chinese people.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Equatorial Guinea. Oil, construction and tyranny*










A crazy place. Similar encompassing the size of Maryland or Slovenia with just some 500,000 inhabitants. The only former spanish colony in Africa and one of the best developed countries in Africa when resuming independence. Strange enough, its first president, a manic psychopath, had nothing better to do then killing/expulsing one third of the population in a amazingly short period of time, thus destroying the countrys human resources and bringing the economy to tatters. Although things have improved on the political side political oppression is still dominant in the country. Even worse, the current countrys leader (his oddness pictured below)








...and his stooges have turned the state into a total kleptocracy. Given the fact that they do not have so many people anymore to torture - they opted to waste another resource: money. Equatorial is now Subsaharan Africa third biggest oil exporter.









Given the countrys little population it might not be too surprising that its per capita income is on the level of the Czech Republic. But does the countrys population benefit from this fact?










The countrys government aims to become a wealthy state comparable to some Asian economies in 2020. This quite overambitious target was reflected in some pictures










I went twice to see this pavillon. During my first visit, the booth almost devoid of everything making this visit a dull affair. But I soon met a friendly Guinean man who spoke perfect English and was working at a major American finance company in Shanghai. He asked me to come back one month later. Then his friends from EG should have arrived and brought the other exhibits over to Shanghai. 
All in all a quite nice performance. EG is one of the places in Africa I would like to see. But it is not a tourists destination. Most of foreign visitors are oil workers from the US.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Estonia*

The last one for today
From the outside it looked rather *African* than Nordic.










It was one of the few performance which already tried to entertain the visitors while queuing up. At the pavillons walls, a signboard asked to collect some ideas how to improve urban life.










Inside, the visitors had the chance to write down their ideas and 
post them into some coloured pigs.










These coloured pigs (but not their content!) became a main draw for most of the visitors. 










Most of the Chinese countryside people do not know too much about enviromental concerns of Western urban residents (or had a limited time budget) and therefore as with other Nordic pavillons, an oringinally nice idea did not reach its target group. 










Sad enough, this was also the case for its second attraction, although this idea might have been much more appreciated by the Chinese. The Estonians had designed their pavillon as a huge stage to let the people sing some karaoke which is very popular in China.










At least some of the visitors participated in singing famous Chinese songs next to the Estonian national anthem!










Estonia is a rather small country with a population base of just 1.5 million inhabitants. Despite being ruled by the Soviets for 50 years this country has miracolously managed to shed its historical burden in just one decade and is now rather associated with the Scandinavian states. It might also be the only place in the world where every citizen gets a free wifi connection by birth


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Your exhaustive coverage of the Expo is just amazing, makes me realised how much I've missed too! How many times did you go and how many hours have you spent queing?


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## Golden Age (Dec 26, 2006)

Awesome collection, thanks. I visited, as well, and missed the Chile and Denmark pavilions, which both received strong critical acclaim. The architect of Denmark's pavillion, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen) really made a name for himself. Wouldn't be surprised if this sort of minimalist architecture (also seen in Austria) will trickle down to the mainstream quite soon.

I can't wait for Japan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland as the lines were among the longest at those pavilions. I did see Germany's (very export and business oriented), the UK's (stylized and artsy) or the USA's (highly political and culturally oriented), which showed the difference in focus.


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## guy4versa4 (Oct 10, 2009)

thanks for photo..update more


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

NCT said:


> Your exhaustive coverage of the Expo is just amazing, makes me realised how much I've missed too! How many times did you go and how many hours have you spent queing?


As you might know it was not everyones kind. 
Actually I wanted to go there once or twice to see the German pavillon and some other crowdpullers and call it a day. But I somehow got addicted to it and ended up visting it twelve times!!! Totally crazy!!!
Queuing wasnt a too big problem, if you had a nice chat with the staff and showed some interest in their country. Another trick was to visit the top pavillons in the late evening. In other cases dining in the adjacent restaurant was equal to buying the entrance tickets. In some rare cases like Italy or South Korea I invented some weird stories.
I waited one an half a hour at UAE and Singapore pavillon, which still was acceptable for me. All the other queuing was less than half an hour.
Only Switzerland and Saudi Arabia proved to be an impassable hurdle.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Golden Age said:


> Awesome collection, thanks. I visited, as well, and missed the Chile and Denmark pavilions, which both received strong critical acclaim. The architect of Denmark's pavillion, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen) really made a name for himself. Wouldn't be surprised if this sort of minimalist architecture (also seen in Austria) will trickle down to the mainstream quite soon.
> 
> I can't wait for Japan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland as the lines were among the longest at those pavilions. I did see Germany's (very export and business oriented), the UK's (stylized and artsy) or the USA's (highly political and culturally oriented), which showed the difference in focus.


Interesting background information didnt know about that.

Well, regarding Switzerland and Saudia Arabia you really got me :lol::lol::lol: these are actually the only ones I could not make. 

Main attraction for Saudi Arabia was its huge 3D cinema inside, a real crowdpuller for the Chinese. Some foreigners told me that there was precious little else inside, definitely not worth queuing up.
Queuing times at the Saudi Arabian pavillon was around 4 to 5 hours - sometimes the loudspeakers announced BLOODY 9 *(N I N E ! ! !)* waiting time but this was rather tactically intended to keep the crowds away.

The Swiss were quite arrogant, not because they are our neighbours. Even the sweetest smile and best arguments did not help to let me in. I even tried to imitate the German Swiss dialect and showed a passport (which was not Swiss but this was difficult to recognize from 3 meters away) but no hance. My sister chose the ambush strategy and went eating in the restaurant, but when receiving the bill she was told that the minimum consumption per person enabling to enter is 280 RMB, which equals 35 Euro!
Nevertheless, Switzerland got even worse reviews than Saudi Arabia, at least from foreign visitors, as its sole attraction was a cable car gliding over an alpine pasture. Most Chinese never went skiiing and loved it.

Japan will be a real highlight you can look forward to.

How did you manage to see all these big pavillons?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Back to work:

*Fiji Islands*










Put up inside the Pacific joint pavillon, it was one of the less memorable experiences. Maybe because it was one of the last we visited. Like all the others in this hall, the booths design was standardized (for details check Cook Islands).










One attraction were textiles, either displayed as clothing or hung as carpets on the wall.
The most dominant feature however was a huge Katamaran boat, a replica of what Polynese people already had invented over 1000 years ago. In 1947, the Norwegian Thor Heyerdal rebuilt such a boat to successfully prove that the Polynese people managed to navigate such boats from South America to New Zealand one millenium ago.










A feature I personally liked very much at this Expo were exhibting some locally manufactured consumer goods. 
In the place(s) I am/was living I hardly ever managed to spot some cookies or instant dishes *Made in the Fiji Islands* (well actually as an irgnorant guy I never paid a lot attention to this *What is manufactured in the Fiji Islands?* - topic throughout my whole life). 
The Expo finally enilightened me and offered me an insight into this topic.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Finland, part 1*










And now take a deep breath and relax. 
















You certainly have seen a lot in your lifetime. You been to many distant places many others could only dream of.
But you have not seen anything of value, when you did not see the Finnish pavillo at Shanghais Expo. 
Okay it might be exaggerating but for me this was one of Top 5 highlights of the ~250 pavillons visited up to par with Chile and some others which will follow later.










It certainly was a love or hate thing. As you can already tell by these pics from the exterior the Finnish certainly played their trump card and opted for minimalist Nordic design. 










A Chinese women queuing up next to me commented on this with: *Wo tingshuo zhege difang feichang meiyisi* (I heard that this is a very dull place)

A huge igloo (or the corpus of a polar bear? a huge closet?) covered with some white tiles resembling the scales of a fish. Surrounded by a moat.










After all these frantic information overload my first reaction to this was: .










Even better, there was no huge signboard in order to lure the masses into the building. The only evidence was a small stone with *Finnland* wroten in ancient Chinese letters. As some Chinese neither know the Latin alphabet nor the old letters queuing was no big problem at this pavillon










We rushed inside in this was the first we saw:










Nothing.











Well, a wooden rondell with a stone. Above only sky.










No protection from the rain.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> As you might know it was not everyones kind.
> Actually I wanted to go there once or twice to see the German pavillon and some other crowdpullers and call it a day. But I somehow got addicted to it and ended up visting it twelve times!!! Totally crazy!!!
> Queuing wasnt a too big problem, if you had a nice chat with the staff and showed some interest in their country. Another trick was to visit the top pavillons in the late evening. In other cases dining in the adjacent restaurant was equal to buying the entrance tickets. In some rare cases like Italy or South Korea I invented some weird stories.
> I waited one an half a hour at UAE and Singapore pavillon, which still was acceptable for me. All the other queuing was less than half an hour.
> Only Switzerland and Saudi Arabia proved to be an impassable hurdle.


12 times bloomin' 'eck! I queued for 4 hours to get into the German one, and that was in the evening, with a broken arm in a plaster too!


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

NCT said:


> 12 times bloomin' 'eck! I queued for 4 hours to get into the German one, and that was in the evening, with a broken arm in a plaster too!


doesnt sound so nice...was it at least worth waiting for?
actually Germany was one of the pavillons where you could enter with a little luck and patience without queuing (at least as a Westerner)


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Finland*

Lets finish with the Finnish (sry...)

We went on through long white corridors, stabbing further into the unknown..










Finally, blueish northern lights began to appear










We reached the pavillons center. A huge video animation projected against the wall.










Wind power and cyclists. This is how Helsinki might look in the future










It was really quite. The crowds calmed down and fell to silence. 










Atmospheric ambient music created a surreal atmosphere.










People could take a photograph of themselves at the booth located on the opposite side. Later some of these faces reappeared on the screen being transformed to floating bubbles










This is the place where you could take the photographs. Before you start ask: none of the faces shown is mine










The pavillon could not get by without some advertising. But the following pics were just simply advertised as *Made in Finnland*



















We visited this strange but somehow very beautiful and atmospheric place twice. The second time we spare some more and remained for 20 minutes gazing at the screen..

The ground floor was a bit more down to earth. Here you could find some shops where you could also buy some decent reindeer soup and lingonberry jam. Helsinki advertised itself as Europeans fashion capital










Finally it was time to say goodbye - to the pavillon and also Santa Claus who resides in the Northern Finnish town Rovaniemi just a few kilometers from the Arctic circle. It was June and the outside temperature was about 35 degrees C.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*France part 1*

Every Chinese child learns it school that French are famous for their taste in style, fashion and good food. So it was no wonder that this pavillon was quite difficult to enter.

Even some French words spoken (oh lala cest incroyable... ) and a bordeaux-red Reisepass disguised as a passport could not convince the English speaking Chinese staff in my first attempt. 
The second time was more lucky. An apocalyptic thunderstorm send the crowds away and pathed my way enabling me to gloriously overcome and prevail.

This one of my first impressions. A long escalator.










The pavillons layout was sort of a atrium. A long gallery winding down around a courtyard. With its greenery this looked very nice although the rain spoiled it. But this was the price to enter. 










In the patio the French showed some examples of future mobility. This Citroen limousine is 5.30 meters long and therefore tailormade for Chinese managers.
By the: Citroen - creative technologie! Buy one! 










After we had reached the top it was time to descend. This was the first thing we saw: snow in Paris!



















Sino-French friendship. The French have a huge district in Shanghai, set up in the 19th century. This cat was the official mascot of the French pavillon.










As in the Belgian pavillon you could watch some chefs preparing the noveau delicatessen de la cuisine. But these guys were a bit tired at the end of the day










It went on and on...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Some things did not have any deeper meaning and just looked nice.










Despite being titled as *The Sensual City* there was no real theme or at least an idea behind this pavillon. It combined a lot of advertisement with enviromental topics so as to say: French companies care about nature. The pavillons architecture was quite enjoyable. The downside however was being annoyed by a lot of commercial rubbish.

More relaxing were these video animations. Some ivy growing over the Eiffel Tower










Quite fascinating. A banlieue...










...with some huge buildings popping up in the backgound



















no real meaning, just faboulous to watch...










Some more birds view perspectives



















...and then some advertisement again. By the way: Michelin tires - buy some!










Also this had a commercial background. Anyway just enjoy these 1960s like drawings.



















dogs eye view of Paris










birds eye view of Toulouse


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> doesnt sound so nice...was it at least worth waiting for?
> actually Germany was one of the pavillons where you could enter with a little luck and patience without queuing
> *(at least as a Westerner)*


Hmm, that'd be a snag for me.

I found the German pavilion certainly worth queing for - there was a lot of actual substance, industrial displays and detailed urban case studies, unlike some of the pavilions with just a film and some random swinging stuff.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*France part 3*

The pavillons highlight surely were these paintings borrowed from the Musee dOrsay: Among them were...

lAngelus from Millet
le Balcon from Manet
la Salle de danse à Arles from Van Gogh
Femme à la cafetière of Cézanne
la Loge done by Bonnard
le Repas painted by Gauguin 
some others
and a sculpture I do not remember

after all this complaining this was a true highlight. And worth waiting for:










Originals, no copies or fakes !










Very brave people these Frenchmen to exhibit this pieces of art at such an event like the Expo about 9000km away from their home. Thanks for the organizer for exhibiting them. 
Ironically (or perhaps for good reason?) these pictures were not really advertised. They just hung along the corridor between some nondescript video animation and advertising. So some people did not even take notice.


Then things got serious again.










Some advertisement for Louis Vuitton. B(u)y the way: Louis Vuitton clothes - buy them!










These were the last pictures I have taken in the pavillon.



















Near the exit, back down in the basement, they had some very nice aerials of French cities. This is one of them (Nice? Maybe some French user can help?)










Another one from Toulouse was shown before.

Despite its quite commercial approach it was overall a great pavillon and a perfect way to finish off an exhausting but great (and quite wet) day at the Expo.


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## marobara (Sep 21, 2009)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> *France part 3*
> Near the exit, back down in the basement, they had some very nice aerials of French cities. This is one of them (Nice? Maybe some French user can help?)


This is definitely Nice.

You're making a great work showing all the countries. Since P is still a long way to go I'd like to ask how did you like the pavillon of Poland?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

thx / thx

Poland was quite cool. But the best thing by far was the gourgeous restaurant. We went there three times (actually no other diing place at the Expo was worth visiting twice). Since then, I started cooking bigos regularly!


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Gabun*

Just one picture.










It was one of the more elaborate places in the African joint pavillon consisting not just of a booth with some tables and exhibits on it. 

Since the entire country is almost completely covered with dense jungle it was not wonder that they chose a *tropical rain forest* as the theme. The biggest attraction was a small hanging bridge which in real bridges wild cataracts in the African country. The rest were the usual collections of masks, sculptures and some photos documenting the modern life in Gabun. 

Nowadays the country is known for three reasons. 

They had one of the longest presidents in reign, Omar Bongo who remained in power from 1967 until his death in 2009 making him the longest reigning president ever. He was no democrat for sure but at least he managed to keep the country stable as its neighbours again and again were sucked in by the black hole of civil war. 
This stability was supported by its oil wealth but the petrodollars were not invested in schools in hospitals but very efficiently in palaces and the presidents pockets. Nowadays the living standard is not much higher than in Cameroon or the Congo countries. The third important fact: Albert Schweitzer had its famous hospital here.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Germany, part 1*

yes, Germany: my homecountry. This will be a longer story.

It was one of the pavillons which was designed and built entirely from the scratch by a specially designated project team. Other *own pavillons* like Croatia, Czech Rep. or Portugal used some standardized buildings erected by the Chinese and added some ornaments on it.

The German pavillon was surely one of the Expos landmarks and could be identified quite easily by its enormous size and quite...er...brutalist design. Ill leave it to you if you like it or not










The pavillon was titled *balancity*, focusing on urban development which is in line with its natural environment, benefits all parties and lets its inhaibtants participate in all relevant decisions.
So far the theorteic approach.










In real, some were more equal, namely me with a German passport did not have to queue up and could go inside without any problems. We went twice. The queuing outside was up to 5 hours on the most crowded days. Chinese love the Germans for their talent for engineering, and especailly building fast cars.

The downside for us sneakers: we had to take the side entrance and missed its first attraction: one huge postcard from each German province depicting the countrys natural highlights. It was the only thing which was about nature, the rest was everything which has to do with humans.

A long moving floor got us through a huge blueish tunnel. At its end some information about the major German port cities including ongoing projects marked the beginning of our German Expo experience.
We went up with an escalator










The pavillon tried to document contemporary scientific, economic or social topics in a child friendly setting. The next pcitures shows a design how elderly people can live together. This was done with some famous German toys called playmobil. Every German has been playing with them when he was a child.










New designs for lifes. As the traditional role of women is being replaced by more career oriented models, new forms of child care have to be introduced










This part also included some interactive games you could play after having received a short introduction from the personnel.

Clap your hands and the birds will fly away!









The second room showed some typical German street scenes with a short description of the place shown. Jewish cemeteries, some amusement districts, old monasteries or just the famous English Garden in Munich with its Chinese temple.










To view these sceneries you had to take a look into some hoods which were hung upside down from the floor (you can see them in the background of the next photo)
Some partition and diversion was created by hanging up some coloured curtains










This was a nice idea, but the colours looked rather ugly, though










The pavillons message was: urban life in Germany combines modern and traditional elements in a harmonious way. Or better: balanced way.

Some nice detail on the third rooms doorstep. I absolutely dont know which name these glassbowls have in english language. If you shake them, the buildings get covered with snow.










The glass bowls content showed typical German sceneries and cityscapes

Okay Ill make it like with Finland: thats it for today, second part tomorrow. Stay tuned.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Germany part 2*

The third big room (actually it was the fourth as we did not visit the huge post cards shown near the entrance) was a bit more concrete.










Like the previous one huge portions dealt with culture but now documenting concrete ongoing projects, like how to recycle old metal to art or how to transform an neglected empty coalmine into a bizarre illuminated swimming pool for snorkeling. Numerous collections of photos and short movies transported the messages to the audience.










After this, it was time to take a short rest and look at some best practice examples of Sino-German relationships.










I did not pay much attention to this part as this place was getting very crowded. Soon I realized the reason why. Everybody was waiting to enter the enormous amphitheatre the Germans had set up at the pavillons exit. 










Like with Australia, this movie theatre marked the pavillons highlight. As with Australia the stuff shown was done in rather child friendly way. But on the contrary the audience did not only have to listen but was also actively involved.










A sort of mirrorball was to become the performance main *actor*. This mirrorball could (obviously) be directed by the noise level of the audience. As the audience was told to scream the ball began to change its colour and started swinging.










If you have been in China before you can easily guess that the Chinese liked this. Surprisingly, the noise level was tolerable.










There was no link to the rest of the pavillons content. Maybe the swinging ball moving to where the people screamed loudest was a reference to the pavillons theme *balancity*.










The whole thing was something like hysterizing the masses. The louder you scream the more you can be part of the whole show. 

All in all it was a good pavillon but not one of the best. Some people considered it to be the best and you barely heard negative things about it. Moreover, the German pavillon was at the Expos end also among the award winners but all in all Italy, Spain, Japan or even Russia received better reviews.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Georgia*










Georgia was on my mind each time I went to the Expo but it took me four times until I finally managed to catch a glimpse during my fifth visit. Georgia was located in the Eastern European rowhouse next to Bulgaria. Some people may wonder why they found it there as nobody really knows whether its an Asian or European country. The population is comprised of Christians therefore it might be European culturally, geographically, though it is a part of Asia.

Since I live in China I did not follow regularly the news about what is going on there and somehow lost the link to it. In the past you heard mixed news about Sakartvelo as the locals call it. A short and very bizarre armed conflict in the summer of 2008 with its huge hostile neighbour Russia, a democratic revolution forcing Schewerdnadse, the long reignin Ex Soviet minister for foreign affairs, to resign, strong economic growth. All this flanked by beautiful scenery and 5000 years of history and culture. 
Interesting ingredients to mingle for an attractive pavillon. In fact the Georgian pavillon was rewarded as one of the the best joint pavillon and this for good reason.

First reason was its attractive layout you find pictured above. Massive white archways waving up and down decorated with golden lions. The pavillons center a wineyard with a big tree.










The photos draw a lot of attention. The landscape in Georgia is very varied with the 5000m high Kavkaz mountain rising straight from the subtropic Black Sea shores. The still humble number of tourists might be surprised to find some good skiing opportunities here. This is also the place where Gorbachey resides in his summer holidays. And where Stalin was born.










More popular is the Georgian food which reflects the different landscapes and climatic zones of the country. In the old city district of the capital Tbilissi you meanwhile can enjoy this excellent cuisine and go clubbing. At least that is what the pictures tell you.

All in all a nice surprise featuring Kavkaz alpine scenery and Tbilissis amusement district.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Ghana*










No news is good news. And when western media describe an African country as *boring* like a German magazine did some years ago this can only be equated with an absence of political turmoil, famine and ehtnic conflicts. Ghana is by no means boring but has not made it into the newspapers and magazines in the last years. Everyhting seems to work over there. When a politician is becoming unpopular he is driven out of power, when a high ranking official is corrupt he will be arrested. Maybe Ghana will get more news coverage again when its petrol reserves start getting exploited and the country will turn into the first African Dubai.
Until then it has to survive on its dynamic agricultural sector or its flourishing IT industry. The NYC police has outsourced its administration work - would you believe it? - to Ghana. If you get fined in New York for wrong parking, your offense will be registered and handled in Accra.

Why I write all this? Because this could have been interesting stuff to fill the pavillon. The emphasis lies on *could*










Actually this booth was a rather dull affair, maybe the expectation were a bit higher than at other African pavillons. 
A temple like entrance (maybe a reference to a similar looking fort erected by the British in the 16th century?) with the *Freedom and Justice* inscription at least revealed a bit of the countrys political achievements.
The interior contained some information about its major export good cocoa and its successes in playing football.
The rest was comprised by the usual collection of masks, clothes, sculptures and photos.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

what shall I cook tomorrow?


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## leadbelly (Jun 6, 2010)

Great thread, anymore Pavillions ?


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## Don Pacho (Oct 26, 2004)

Anymore countries after Ghana?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

I put some up tomorrow (assuming that i do not get banned for the rubbish i posted today)


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Grenada*

First pavillon after this long break is grenada and it wasnt worth waiting for it for 7 months.
About the country: a laid back and small island state under the Caribbean sun where life seems to go on peacefully forever. With some sharp interruptions in 1983 as the weak and tiny United States of America feared leftist tendencies in the mighty and notorious bloodthirsty Grenadian government and intervened in order to prevent the world from communist world domination. At least, since then, elections in Grenada have been free and fair. In 2004 again a hurricane destroyed huge parts of the islands infrastructure.










The most memorable thing about this pavillon was the huge pink plastic sculpture. The wall were hung up with some paintings and posters. Some TV screens provided further information. Quite nice to see some food and drinks manufactured in Grenada (rhum!) and the dainty, wooden ships. You can see them stored on the shelves in the background










Drum roll: I even brought home a small Grenadian paper flag back home.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Greece, part1*

Some might start eyerolling when reading this countrys name. Greece? Dont they have other ways of spending their money then investing into a huge EXPO pavillon? To be fair: there are some more intersting things about Greece except debts and politics. Besides, this pavillon was planned in around 2008 before financial crisis struck and so it was very surprising to see that Greece EXPO performance was obviously not affected by budgeting problems

The blueish exterior was nothing to write home about, but I quite likde the inside.
The pavillons motto was POLIS which means city in Greek. Modern city life and urban development was what the EXPO was about and who could demonstrate this better than Greece with its 4000 years urban history and political culture?










Jumping into the 21st century, the pavillon featured some video animation about modern urban life showing that people reclaim their polis










A 1:1 model of a typical Athenian kiosk which serves not only as a place to buy newspapers bit also as as a meeting point to socialize with the neighbourhood



















Moving away from the urban hectic people could witness a cruise across the calm Aegean Sea. Not too surprising this at first sight unspectacular feature did not draw too much attention. Funnily 1.5 years after visiting it it is the first thing which comes to my mind when recalling the Greek pavillon


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Greece part 2*

Now about the proactive part.
I did not quite this one. Obviously the visitors were able to rotate the view by turning the steering wheel but it seemd to be defunct










Save Greece from its forest fires by touching the surface with the coloured hands!










The better it gets the more brighter the bowl











Greek food


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Guatemala*

Finally, the Latin-American state which is famous for its Maja ruins, its gourgeous jungle landscapes and its 4220m high Tajumulco volcano which is the highest in Central America (and some drug cartels and long, bloody civil wars which are luckily history).

The pavillons layout was based on the aforemnetioned Maja heritage. 
The right thing to do as Emmerichs 2012 was just successfully introduced in Chinese cinemas just before the EXPO started.










Culture clash: Chinese wearing Latin American straw hats










If you have went through this thread before you surely know that this was the toughest EXPO visit for me. Most of the people didnt spend too much time at this spot, but quickly queued up get a stamp in their EXPO passport and rushed hastily off










The few which stayed were rewarded with some nice photographs displaying the countrys beauty.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

After visiting all these pavillons, time to take a brief look outside:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Guinea Bissau*










Have you ever heard about this country? Measuring just the size of Taiwan but not reaching its importance in terms of economic power, the former Portuguese colony remains one of the most obscure countries in the world. 

What a pity, with its savannas, mangrove forests and islands it must be a very picturesque place. The ethnics living on the Bissagos islands are one of the few remaining matriarchist societies and were granted UNESO world cultural heritage status.

Talking about business, the country has not performed so successful since being released from the iron grip of its Portuguese colonialists in 1974. The country survives on the export of cashew nuts and little else. In recent years it received a certain amount of press coverage because of some political turmoil and for becoming a major base for trading drugs between Latin America and Europe. There were even some rumours about losing its status as a independent state but I have not read anything about it in recent times.

To cut a long story short, it was amazing this country turned up at the party and even gave a decent performance given its limited resources. 










The major attraction were interesting photographs displaying the Bissaoans (?) every day life.










But for totally different GB was a very unique experience. The day I visited was declared as the Expos official "Guinea Bissau Day". The Expo endured 180 days, just enough to cover all countries particapting with a one day celebration. On the Chinese TV program they showed some information about the countrys pavillon and the state itself. At the Expo a local band cheered up the atmosphere. Maybe there was some more entertainment but I didnt wait and carried on.










GB was the only pavillon visit which coincided with such an event.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Guyana*

It is not a stretch to say that this was the highlight of the Caribbean joint pavillon. Hidden in a very remote corner amongst all the tiny islands states, Guyana was something like a face in the crowd and many other visitors shared this view.










Despite its geographic location on the South American continent, Guyana is often regarded as a Caribbean country. A major share of its population are of Indian (India! Taj Mahal not Teepees!) origin and of Hinduist belief. This sparsely populated country is mostly comprised of virgin jungle plus some gigantic waterfalls and soaring rocky outcrops. Some remote regions remain almost inacessible until today.

But going with the Expos motto the performance also focused on urban development.










This is a model of Guyanas capital Geoergetown. Quite interesting to see but a little smaller for using the space for more streets would have not been too bad.










The pavillons featured all topics to know about Guyanas history, culture, geography and people.










This was done in a very interesting way and easy to follow. Also historical links to China were mentioned.










All in all a decent affair.










...but how come the River Amazone flows through Guyana?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Haiti*










Haiti was the first colony to be granted independence. While most African states just celebrated their 50th anniversary, the Caribbean island"s people already separated in 1804 from France. As we all know, it didnt help them much...

The Expo started just 4 months after a disastrous earthquake hit Haiti making bad things even worse. It is reported that 310,000 people have died, bringing the country to its knees.










A replica of the giant citadelle Laferriere, (a kind of national symbol, a leftover from the French heritage) some colourful framed pictures, some artefacts and some souvenirs made up a pretty nice pavillon.










All is left to say that I sincerely hope the Haitian somehow someday manage to overcome their neverending hardships. And that an earthquake like this will never happen again. Without sounding too elevated.


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## Urbanista1 (Sep 13, 2006)

fascinating thread. interesting to see how nations portray themselves


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

interesting thread, nice pics and very informative ...kay:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

thank you, mates


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Holland, Netherlands, part1*

Netherland was the shooting star at Germany`s Expo 2000 in Han(g)over.
Too bad this building did not find any investors after the Expo and now looks neglected.
In Shanghai, the Dutch chose another quite innovative and unique approach. No real building but an open air walkway, called the "Happy Street".










On the downside this pavillon was the only one being completely dependent on the weather. We visited it after a brief but heavy rainshower in order to avoid ´queuing and in fact, it only took 20 minutes to get "inside". 










It may sound a bit bizarre but the main highlight was the ground floor carpeted with a green meadow with plastic cows to sit on and snack bars on it. At these snack bars you could taste culinary excellence of what the world famous Dutch cusine is renowned for: Frikandel, Frit, Kaassouflee.










Actually the thrill of walking on a colourful street bypassing flying football grounds and "leviateted" houses was the main attraction of this venue.










Inside this houses lining up the street there was no captions explaining what was to see. I didn´t quite get the meaning of this one


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Montenegro*










Without too much effort, Montenegro achieved something very unique to remember: becoming the Expos first and only black hole.










Everybody been to this pavillon just shrug his shoulders when being asked about its content. The Montenegrians chose a very special approach to brainwash their visitors: black colour, no lights, just a few luminous sources coming from video screens










The stuff shown was much more ordinary: the usual information about the worlds third youngest country which became independent in 2006 when it chose to separate from Serbia. It is a stunning country with rocky cliffs falling into the deep blue Adriatic Sea and a rugged, mountanious hinterland with steep canyons and gigantic waterfalls. I think there is also a quite representative thread on this boards "General Photographs" section.










Not a easy decision for the Serbs to let them go... 

Maybe the pavillons darkness was a reference to the countries name, meaning "Black Mountain" in English. Locals call it consequently "Crna Gorna". But with no visible structures, it apparently also was a quite forgettable place...

The only concrete detail I remember was a very helpful and polite Montenegrian who attempted to overload me with travel brochures. According to his information I was the first foreigner visiting this pavillon since ages and therefore also the first guy being able to have a chat with him. But I do not remember what we talked about...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Morocco*

We went inside it on our first visit and really liked it. A friend had recommended it as one of the few pavillons which combines an attractive interior and not too much queuing. We only had to wait for 15 minutes outside










Outside a traditional building with Islamistic architecture.










Inside, a bazaar like other countries from this region showcased, but by far the most attractive of Shanghais Expo. 










very atmospheric, with good illumination. The layout reminded of a hotel we had stayed in a few years ago in Marrakechs old city district. A building with two floors, and a courtyard surrounded by a gallery. 










This gallery was designed like a kasbah, small alleys with painted clay buildings, an architecture which is quite common in ancient Morrocan cities. 










There were a lot of "shops" but nothing to buy, just to look at. This was a very positive feature - no shoppoing and no hassles. The artefacts showcased were far too precious anyway.

Of course also some illumination was shown, highlighting the countries natural attractions, like beaches, the 4300 meter high Atlas mountains and the gourgeous desert landscapes you find in the countrys south.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Myanmar*

One highlight, one downlight about this one

the highlight: it was the first country pavillon I stepped in. Before I had only visited some urban pavillons.

The downlight: I did not find it too attractive and never considered to post it later on SSC then, therefore...


...I took no picture from it.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Namibia*










A quite attractive performance hidden in a remote corner of the African joint pavillon. 










A lot of information was its plus and differentiating characteristic to other joint pavillon. 










Namibia is one of the worlds driest and most sparsely populated countries. Although it also has to struggle with AIDS epidemia like its neighbours it is quite well off which is also due to its tourism revnues and mineral resources:










One of the few African pavillons showing some technical solutions namely a sewage treatment plant. 










Other topics included hydro power stations and urban housing projects

Plus some gourgeous scenery and the ubiquitous handicrafts.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Nauru*

Nauru found its haven in the Pacific joint pavillon. Some decades ago it might have chosen a big own next to the Chinese, I assume. But lets start at the beginning.

the booth was empty during our first visit, but at least some exhibits could be found at our second. 










Whereas the exhibition was nothing to write home about, the country is much more interesting. Being 21 square kilometres big, it is the smallest state in the world after the Vatican and Monaco with just 10000 inhaibtants. 










Not too long ago, it also broke another record namely being the worlds most wealthy country - thanks to birdshit. Its no joke. Birds making a stopover on the islands left their traces behind which turned into precious phosphate by cehmical reaction. This phosphate was exported to Australia and made millionaires out of the islands inhaibtants. 










In the 1970s and 80s most Nauru people (I do not even know how to call them properly) owned several cars resulting into a constant traffic gridlock (as the country only had one paved ring road), or went to Melbourne or Sydney for
weekkend shopping trips. When they got bored from this they invited some few poor mates from the not-so-wealthy surrounding states for some singing and dancing or watched some TV. It was truly a bizarre state: in 1992 Nauru was responsible for funding the worlds most absurd and stupifying musical in London which was stopped after 2 weeks.

But this was no problem at all as nobody had to work in Nauru ....at least
until the phospate reserves were mined out in the 1990s and the people suddenly realized they had nothin left they could sell to the world. Meanwhile the country relies on accomodating criminals and refugees the Australians want
to get rid off. Infrastructure has collapsed completely and some guys reported to me, that there was not even a functioning hotel on the island. Tourism has no big potential as the island is remote, has no superb beaches and the islands interior resembles a lunar landscape a memorial of the mining activities
The government is bankrupt and there are constant rumours that this state might soon lose its independency - this would be a quite unique procedure.

So one find it amazing that they might it to Shanghais Expo albeit not really showing what is currently going on in this tiny republic. Maybe they felt ashamed about it and this makes this fairy tale with no happy ending even more depressing.










A strange country


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks for this avalanche of reacts. I do not even know to start with whom to reply to.:applause:

Lets carry on more swiftly to get to the end.

*Nepal*










A rather small country and one of the poorest in Asia. But they had their own pavillon.










It was conveniently located next to the Chinese pavillon and therefore we visited it afterwards to come down and relax fomr the Chinese gigantomania.










The whole show consisted of a traditional temple.










As many Chinese never make it to Nepal and not even Tibet they could have a look how a typical Nepalese temple looks like.










A souvenir shop and a defunct restaurant was also integrated










Given the countrys economical power, a very good contribution 










Only problem: there was no roof and it got quite wet on rainy days. On the upside, queuing was reduced to a couple of minutes then.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*New Zealand*

Expectation were quite high and they were fulfilled. Surely one of the better places to spend your time on.










This was the entrance. The pavillon consisted of two parts. First a huge hall with a zigzag walkway guiding the visitors upstairs through a labyrinth and secondly, something very unique: a botanical garden on the top showing typical plants from New Zealand and even some fake geysirs and springs.










The first part portrayed the Kiwis everyday urban life from morning to midnight with a lot of pictures and movies plus some flashy back Maori background music.










This is the top: a real highlight with endemic plants and geysirs. Unfortunately not as attractive when dark.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Netherlands ---: check for H like Holland


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Nicaragua*

Not too many memories from this










Quite conventional layout with brown plastic walls covered with greenery symbolizing the countrys jungle landscape and some movies.










Biggest attraction shoould have been the huge white hammock but as a million Chinese wanted to lie on it it was closed to the public. The Chinese therefore moved on to the souvenir stand.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Niger*

One of the lesser known African countries. A huge stretch of sand, with enormous dunes, vast and empty spaces plus some spectacular desert ranges and the worlds biggest reserves of uranium. Only the southern part receives enough rain to support animal husbandry and some farming. Thats what most Nigreans live on, the uranium export is controlled by the French who also got their plutonium for the nuclear testing in Mururoa from here










Quite minimalistic design. This was surely not the pavillon the visitors were looking for but like some of these lesser visited it contained a real surprise: I was impressed by a man from Niger (you see him standing at the left) speaking fluently Chinese after only one year learning. He was studying at the Tongji university in Shanghai, he said.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Nigeria*

The Subsharan African most poulous country was the the only country from this region except South Africa and Angola having an own pavillon. 










But very disappointing with no clear message. Most parts of it resembled a supermarket with artefacts, paintings and photos. But there was no motto or topic defined although there was enough space to do so.










In the end Nigeria was not better than most African countries in the joint pavillon, even rather worse. 
Nigeria is a country you hear a lot from these days. Islamist terror in the north, rebel activities in the South, corruption, chaos, criminality. But in the past also some positive news has surfaced: democracy is now implemented, and although still instable, the government slowly manages to direct the economy on a growth path. Apart from portraying some investment opportunities, none of all this was reflected in the Shanghai appearance, though.


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## soymochaccino (Mar 29, 2012)

Rinchinlhumbe said:


> *Micronesia*
> ascasc swq f ewAS SCXSSXS SDS SRY FOR THIS


LOL yes some people do read, you should write more if you can! It's interesting to know what actually goes on at the expo and what impression each country gives. 

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see the rest of them :cheers:


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

Thx, quality of the photos is soso, its just for information. It is quite difficult to make good photos when everybody is running, pushing and jostling around. Just read the text, it contains a lot of information.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Niue*










What and where on hel is Niue? Well, its not exactly an independent state although the guy at the booth was trying to convince me so.
Niue is a small pacific island and forms an oversea territory of New Zealand. The Kiwis have granted inner autonomy to this remote and small coral island but certain functions like defence and foreign affairs are still controlled by the politicians from Wellington. They still have their own flag and this flashy yellow colour looks much better than the dull dark blue of the Kiwis flag.










This island 2400km north of NZ is too small to survive on its own as its only export products are coconuts and handicrafts. There are neither mineral resources nor oil, not even a harbour for ships to land and airlines normally skip this island. This is why most people have left the island in order to emigrate to New Zealand. About 1500 people still live on Niue whereas roughly 20,000 live abroad.










A local from Niue explained us his countrys history and how to become independent from New Zealand. His idea was to introduce ecotourism to his island and I was chosen to become one of his first investors. That sounded very intriguing and interesting but unfortunately there was no business angel around providing me some couple of million dollars in order to get things going.
If you have the right idea to bring investment and independence to this island and lure the Niue people back on their island then please contact that guy pictured below:










sometimes small pavillons provide more interesting facts and surprises when you take your time.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*North Korea, part 1*










Finally a country a lot of people were waiting for. First and foremost, this was the only pavillon were foreigners comprised the majority of visitors. The reason for this was clear: Shanghai provided the most convenient and maybe only opportunity to visit this hermit kingdom without a guide observing you. BIG Kim was watching you as well but nobody had to worship or at least care about him.










The Chinese did not pay too much attention on this although some also reported to visit because of being curious to get into touch with a place which does not want to communicate with the outside world. For other Chinese, North Korea is the stubborn old fashioned neighbour which does not want to learn from its past. "Everything there is like it was in China in the 1970s" most Chinese will say when being asked. If you ask me I think even in 1975 the live of an ordinary Chinese was better than that of a North Korean today.










The pavillons motto: "Paradise for people". Not very surprising. Compared to its southern neighbour it was a quite humble appreance from an objective point of view. South Korea will follow later but I can already say that it was a spectacular pavillon. But from a subjectoive point of view, interesting nevertheless, as this pavillon was also a test area for North Korea to the outisde world
. 









People visiting this pavillon were allowed to do what they wanted. In North Korea people are sent to prison for dropping a book with the DEAR LEADERS face on it to the ground. It is a crime to say: "are you North Korean?", as North Koreans are always Koreans what in turn implies that there is no South Korea, just a tiny unimportant "puppet regime" controlled by the "US American bastards" at best. 
Two North Koreans were selling souvenirs behind a desk. The usual stuff: stamps, flags and books about the Juche ideology and of course the DEAR LEADER. I tried to get into contact with both lady and man but it was difficult to do so, as they exactly found the balance between being not too inpolite but not talking too much to the people behind the desk. I was trying to act friendly but a bit naive by asking questions like

"Hello, are you from North Korea?"
"I really like your president but I have forgotten his name. Btw, what do you think about him?"
"I would really like to visit your country but I dont know how. Can you help me? I am from Germany. Would you like to visit Germany as well?"
"Will North Korea win the world football championship? Do you watch the games? What is your favourite football team? Real? Barca? Chelsea?"

None of this compromising questions was answered, maybe it is too dangerous to talk to foreigers because some spies from Pyongyang were standing just next to me.

But as I changed the first question to "Are you Korean?" the man gently smiled and said yes. I bought some souvenirs as the football world championship in South Africa had just started and as a violent Juche Ultra Hooligan I wanted to buy some flags to support the North Korean football team. The woman was impressed and addedsome souvenirs for free on top. 
Then I recognized some two girls around 20 standing next to me speaking very good English which is quite unusual for Chinese. As things unfolded they were from South Korea and wanted to talk to the North Koreans as well but were completely ignored. One girl got anxious and wanted to leave the pavillon while the other was very sad. When I compare this situation to the Cold War period in Germany where even visiting relatives in the East and writing letters was possible it is quite easy to see how things got wrong in Korea.

But lets get back to topic.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*North Korea, part 2*










The exhibition consisted of a fountain, a rock garden, of course the notorious Juche movement and some movies showing that everything is alright in Kims hermit kingdom. Lets have a closer look.










These apartment blocks are the nations pride.










the country does not lie about its past like other Stalinist regimes did. This fact is demonstrated by the buildings architecture in the inner city of Pyongyang.










Paradise for children.










Two worlds in one country. On the top a neat looking city silhouette with a park, on the bottom hard labour for the people.










The Ariyang festival must be an amazing event and actually it has become a sort of tourist attractions in the last few years.



















In the children palace of Pyongyang, small children are able (or obliged) to learn playing on some instruments.










This picture shall portray the ordinary live of North Korean people. They spend their evening at home with the family and switch on the television (but not the internet...). But I think this is propaganda, only some privileged people in the capital live like that.










Finally a modern supermarket as you find thousands in Berlin, Brussels or Boston. Even better, there is always friendly service staff around to help, but look at this...










The only visible items are apples in squeezed in a multideck cabinet where they acutally dont belong. Sorry, but this is staged. I heard about a karaoke bar, and even a pizzeria and fasat food restaurant opening inPyongyang, so there might be also a supermarket. But they could have chosen a more professional camouflage for this....other visitors also smiled at when viewing this sight.

Last picture from North Korea is an aerial of Pyongyang


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Norway*

sorry, but I do not have any photos from this. Dont ask me why....I rember taking some...dangerous and mysterious Norway....
It was a wooden building with a fair share of glass and the whole tpoci was about Norewegian nature. People could wander along the whole pavillon while temperature and vegetation was changing from chilly Svalbard to sunny Oslo. I really liked that as it was something unique beyond patriotic ostentation you could see in a lot of other pavillon. One feature I remember: The building produced and regenerated its own water with drinking quality. Sounds nice...but: no photos!


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Oman, part 1*










Yes, that was a good one. Oman is something like an insider tip for travellers: it is wealthy and stable but it does not show its riches so ostentative like the Emirates or Qatar for example. People from Oman are very conservative about religion as they are neither of Sunnit and Shiit belief but confess to the very traditional Wahabit Islam like their neighbours in Saudi Arbia do as well. The kingdom was hermit and isloated until Sultan Qabus putsched a coup against his father who forbid people to wear glasses and carry umbrellas as these things were considered to be too modernistic. Almost the entire population was analphabet then and there was only 10km of paved road in the country.










Starting at zero, Sultan Qabus managed very clever to utilize his petrol reserves and succeded in developing the country by staying out of the regional conflicts in the same time. Although quite obscure, the country has everything to offer what you normally associate with Arabia - gigantic mosques, exccentric palaces, old clay made houses, enormous deserts, rocky mountains, colourful bazaars and modern infrastructure. And all of this was shown in Shanghais Oman pavillon. Plus two surprises.










This was the entrance: a map of the country plus one of these typical Dhau ships which once controlled the trade across the Indian Ocean.










It went up alog a glass fornt. The interior was a clear symbiosis of tradition and modernism as well.










Upstairs, people were welcomed and the aforementioned countrys achievements in the last 40 years were highlighted.










The top floor covered everything what is to know about Oman. A focus lay on the countrys nautral environment and agriculture. Despite being made up almost entirely of desert people somehow mananged to survive through clever irrigation techniques.










Even more extreme - and that is the first surprise - a tiny little bit of southern Oman receives monsoon rain for three months, enough to support some green scrub vegetation. I never thought about Arabia could look so green.










some traditional architecture. Omans highest mountains exceed 3000 meters, and it is the only Arabian country with fjords. They are located in the country northwest, next to the emirates.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Oman, part 2*










but the story would be incomplete without presenting sustainable projects. One highlight is the reintroduction of Oryx antelopes which were almost extinct in nature. Outside of Oman, these animals only survive in Zoos.










This is a look downstairs where we are heading to.










Myrrh and frankincense orignally comes from this region. The tree shown above is of course fake but the whole pavillon somehow smelled of these substances.










A traditional nomad tent. They were some women selling souvenirs and knitting cloth. Everything had to be very authentic. As I am male they did not dare to talk to me. My girlfriend was more lucky.










As mentioned before, this was really a fine piece of Islam architecture.










Finally, a very unique feature I did not spot elsewhere. A hologram showing Muscat, the capital from different ages depending from which position you look at it. So people were able to compare Muscat from the 1970s with todays modern metropolis


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Pakistan*










Regarding the size, Pakistans appearance could easily compete with the big crowdpullers. A huge fortress unfortunately looking a bit worn at the Expos end though. 










This building was erected to be in operation for just a few months and also most of the exterior looked cheap.










It lacked the real spectacular attractions other huge pavillons offered. No noise sensitive mirrorballs, no spectacular illumination, no interactive 3D flights. Pakistan chose a "museum-like" approach with a lot of artefacts and a lot of text. People had to take their time, but most did not. 
The Pakistanis did not only chose some examples but tried to cover everything which is to know about the country: all provinces, all mountains, all prominent people.

Thus, a big section was attributed to famous Pakistani people, 










Another part illustrated the sino/pakistani relationship in the past.










The client is African, the doctor is Pakistani and the medical equipment is from China










Pakistani has some of the most spectacular landscpaes of this world. This photo was taken in the Northern Regions.










A major feature in this part was a huge model of the gigantic K2 mountain which was slowly crumbling down to sealevel size due to ultra highspeed manmade erosion.










In the end, Pakistani at least offered some things to remember as I walked out of the pavillon again. There had at least been worse contributions to Shanghais Expo.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Spain, part 2*

The surprise was located in the third and last room. When entering we heard some childrens voices saying "ola", "ola"










This giant baby was a shocking sight.










It was slowly moving, smiling and looking into the crowd. Something very terrific, for some maybe even the most memorable thing about the Expo. When this baby turned its head to me I almost felt like it was looking into my eye.










Some guy finally explained to me that the pavillons story was divided into past, present and future and each part was shown in one room. The flamenco dancer represented the countrys past, the second room its present and the third its future -according to the Spanish Expo concept nothing is more important than preserving and securing the life of our children, in this case being embodied by an oversized 5 meter baby.










This was a cool way to finish a long and exciting Expo visit. A lot of entertainment and not too many facts - just right.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*SriLanka*










This place was located next to Pakistan and it also shared some similarities. 










Like for Pakistan, it was an own pavillon and one of the weaker ones, quite simple appeal and cheaply decorated.










The layout was a bit unfortunate, mildly put. A huge and crowded hall with no partition.










Enough of the whining, lets talk about the more positive things.










Sri Lanka chose a "museum-like" approach with its exhibition rather focusing on culture, omitting spectacular lightshows or videos. The countrys history and cultural heritage was displayed on huge boards with a lot of photos and text. People had to take their time.










This is a model of the countrys ancient capital (and probably most beautiful city) Kandy. The elaborate models were the pavillons highlight.










This temple like building provided some shopping opportunities and was impossible to enter without queuing up again.

And then the people from Sri Lanka offered one real highlight most others exhibitors could not: delicious AND affordable food. Both combined was impossible to find at the Expo. 
Some of the huge crowdpullers sold their food in combination with an "imaginary" entrance ticket: people who paid the ridicolous bills were allowed to enter without queuing. Other cheaper options provided a quality level comparable to fast food at best. Sri Lanka finally was a positive exception and convinced me to order a second menu.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*St Kitts and Nevis*

Its not a band - its a tiny island state in the Caribbean.










With just 260 sqkm the most tiny among a lot of other tiny island states in the Caribbean, to be exact.










In spite of its neighbours St. Lucia and St Vincent, they even managed to ramp up something to remember at Shanghais Expo. The booth was flanked by colourful facades of colonial buildings










And they have a enormous fort and a choochoo train too. Given the miniature expanse of the state the train is rather for carrying around tourists than locals or goods. This train was shown on a separate video screen.










For such obscure countries it is difficult to draw attention, especially when most visitors run on a tight time budget and have other priorities. But StKN was one of these places which warranted a second and closer look.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines*

As mentioned above, nothing memorable, dont even remember if they exhibited


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Surinam*

This was located not too far away in the Caribbean Joint Pavillon as well and was occupying a surprisingly big area.










The layout comprised a white wooden house reminding of the Dutch heritage and a bridge leading into the dense and untamed jungle. Unfortunately there was way too little information.










And that was a pity. Surinam is a quite unknown but very interesting nation if you take a closer look on it. Once one of the few Dutch colonies, it was not until 1975 this small and sparsely populated country gained independence. But things soon sobered up as Surinam slided into the abyss under the rule of dictator Desire Bouterse who incited a bloody and long civil war. Meanwhile the country has managed to stabilize again and survives mainly on the export of aluminium and bauxit. A bizarre place, with inaccessible jungle making up about 90% of the territory. 
Its just 500,000 inhaitants split up in almost all existing races and religions the world has to offer: Europeans, Indians, Indonesians, Africans, local tribes who either believe in Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or animist belief. The cultural diversity is a relicrt from the colonial past when the Dutch used Suriname as a "dumoing ground" or "waiting hall" for (re)settling people from their other colonies. But it is fair to say that despite its geographic location on the Northern tip of the South American continent it is rather a Caribbean state. You wont find a lot of Metsizes and Hispnaos here.

By the way the biggest failure of the Dutch was to trade in their North American colony New Amsterdam for Suriname with the British in the 17th century. 
How did this end up? Well, the British first decided to change the name of their New colony New Asmterdam to let it sound more British and chose the name "New York"....
I guess, nowadays, Manhattan has become a slightly more popular place than Suriname

And the most bizarre thing: Desire Bouterse is president again in Suriname - through free and fair elections...


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Sweden, part 1*

One of my favourite countrys and of course one of the better pavillons

More colourful than its scandinavian neighbours, the rather nondescript exterieur was inspired by a Stockhol city map.

We went there very late but the staff let us in. So it went up a long escalator to the upper floor which marked the start of the exhibition.










The first part dealt mainly with enviromental topics and typical Swedish products. Sweden, a sparsely populated country (about the size of California but merely 9 million inhabitants) in the past was envied for its pristine nature and its stable social environment with little unemployment and a many social democratic elected governments which supported the weak part of the population.

Some of these achievements were displayed in a very creative way. Thesew billboards were in fact "Janus headed pictures" showing different pictures depending from which perspective you look at them.










From the left people saw a huge waste dump, walking to the right the picture turned to a renaturalized park area.










Same here: a formerly run-down industrial area was revitalized to a fashionate urban entertainment district. Another one showed a reforestation project










To the middle a huge textile pile with changing colours. This did not have a real meaning like a honest Swedish admitted.










The textiles reminded a bit of these huge and clumsy IKEA lamps which "decorated" my slleeping room during my childhood...










There were two ways to enter the basement: either the conventional way walking down the stairs or sliding down a giant chute.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Sweden part 2*

The basement was in fact a huge play ground with some swingers and an adjacent restaurant. 










Pippi Langstrumpf would have loved it.










But there was still room left for more serious topics.










Like most other developed nations did, also the Swedish took the opportunity to advertise some future oriented innovation of their major companies.










A bit more thrilling: new design ideas.










Then, it was already time again to say goodbye to the Swedish pavillon. Inside quite compact, it managed to use it space very efficiently and the "two-sided" bill boards plus the giant chute were really innovative stuff. The table on the ceiling was also a nice idea but I had seen it before in the Chile pavillon - who copied from whom?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Syria*

Same as with Libya, it is worth mentioning that I visited this pavillon in Summer 2010 roughly half a year before the civil uprisings in the Middle Eaast broke off. So I entered this booth in the Middle East joint pavillon without any prior assumption

Syria had the best setting and atmosphere besides Bahrain in the Middle East joint pavillon. 










In spite sticking to a modern flashy design like Bahrain, Syria chose rather the Islamist-traditional archtiecture for its booth (like most others did in this joint). The colourful arches really looked good.










It had also invented a motto: looking for sustainability (albeit with no indication to have found some). 










And the open question is: how with this president?


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Taiwan*

We didnt make it to get inside. Our original plan was to first check out the China pavillon and later switch over to the adjacent Taiwanese. But queuing was too tough.










Its a pity because at least from the outside it looks quite intriguing. As with the Taipeh urban pavillon, people from the Mainland seem to be quite interested to see whats going on in Taiwan. The island isstill regarded as a separist province which belongs to the PRC but tensions have eased a bit as trade seems to expand and getting there is not so difficult anymore for the ordinary Mainland Chinese. Anyway, as I could tell by the queue not a lot have made it that far and if they will, they will soon discover that Taiwan has developed very differently since Jiang Kai Check was expulsed from the Mainland in 1949. Ive been to Taiwan last year and can confirm that nobody in Taipeh or Kaoshiung is fond of a reunion with the Mainland...










Quite interesting, Taiwan was allowed to have its own pavillon next to the Mainland Chinese (like HongKong or Macao had in the urban area). An indice that either the Beijing government does acknowledge Taiwns as something different than the other 31 Minland provinces or that it wants to please the international community with this sign of tolerance (rather unrealistic).
That said I did not meet anybody who went inside and could tell me if it was worth seeing.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Switzerland*










My Swiss friends have deserved a reward as well like the Germans, Italians, Mauritanians or Chileans had. An award for being the most arrogant staff on this Expo. We tried to enter several times and actually it would not have been impossible to succeed like it was at other hotspots. 
But during our first attempt the cableway was broken , the second time the Swiss decided to close the pavillon during the afternoon for no particular reason than being lazy and finally I tried to enter by convincing the staff by waving with my passport (which is not Swiss but doies look like that from 2 meters away) and talked Swiss German accent.
My sister, which visited me in Shanghai went one step further and ordered a chocolate fondue in the restaurant which was equiavalent to an entrance ticket in other popular locations. But not here. Entering was tied to the demand to consume food worth 30 Euro per person. Even better, she was "kindly" aksed to leave the restaurant as also others would like to take her seat.










Skipping this landmark (it looks quite interesting from the outside, doesnt it?) was nevertheless bearable as its main attraction was a cableway carrying visitors over a lush alpine pasture. Otherwise there was little else to see. 
Maybe its popularity was mainly because most Chinese never went skiiing and were quite curious to see how a ride in a cableway is like.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Tajikistan*

There lies a certain magic in this country. Tajikistan. Even the name sounds intriguing. I would call it the most mountainous country on earth. With its almost 8000 meter high Pamir mountains, its spectacular gorges, the rugged Pamir plateau there is no space left for fertile lowlands. 
Tajikistan was the least developed part of the Soviet Union and it was so remote that even information about a civil war led by a separist Islamist army did not surface in any media around the world until the country became indpendent in 1991.










This "I-have-to-go-there-" place might be a fascinating country nestled in the high Pamir mountains but far away in flat Shanghai it offered an uninspiring performance. 
I heard that despite some improvements it is still one of the poorest countries in Asia and that its president is not ruled by free elections. But the whole pavillon gave the much more extreme impression of visiting a totalitarian and backwards, Stalinist place.










The National Flag, some proud reservoirs shown on various wallpapaers and the Dear Leader portrayed in a huge painting was all it had to offer. Not to forget the North Koreish fountain.

As i walked out I had to assure myself if I had not accidentally stumbled into the Turkmenistan pavillon.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Tansania*











A country in Africa most people have heard of. Thanks to its political stability its a place Western tourists can go on safaris or relax at the beaches of Sansibar, this unique island whith its distinct "oriental" appeal.










Also most Chinese know Tansania quite well because...back in the 1970s they were friends with China when Mao was still at rule. Tanzania was one of the examples of socialism being implemented in Africa and it was the most consequent country to do so. The charismatic leader Julius Nyerere introduced the Ujaama model to all villages in Tanzania, abolishing private ownership and forcing the farmers to share their cattle with others. He was an intellectual and by far not as violent as other communist leaders but his Ujaama concept failed and remained Utopia.










Today Tanzania focus on sustainability and displays another uptight giraffe like also the Central African Republic did.










Quite interesting to see, besides Namibia and at a pinch, Zambia, Tansania was the sole country in the African joint to introduce sustainable projects to the audience.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Thailand*

This place was quite popular among the Chinese as Thailand has become a tourist destination also for them. the exhibits were located in an old temple next to the Phillipines.










Waiting time was still acceptable (about 20 minutes) and the ones who got bored got some entertainment from this small witty guy who introduced the country and the pavillon to the crowd.










Inside there was a huge hall wwith some exhibits and two rooms with some animation and entertainment for all visitors. Overall not much information about sustainability. A quite Asian approach.

The first show was done in Chinese and provided nothing memorable. 










but the 4D movie in the third and last romm was a real highlight - at least for the Chinese crowds. People were wearing crowns or were bitten by nasty little fish during this event - great entertainment for the people!










btw, the small blond Western guy to the left staring into the camera isnt me...but a freind of mine


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Timor Leste*

Timor Lestes pavillon was hidden in the extreme southeastern corner at Shanghais Expo and was often overlooked. Quite unusual about half of the pavillon was used for banks and seats to sit on. This created a "cinema-like" atmosphere.










Indeed, the movie was the pavillons main theme. People visting this place had the rare chance to listen to the exotic traditional music from Timor Leste. 

Timor Leste is Asias youngest country and occupies the Eastern part of the Timor island (the Western half belongs to Indonesia). Until 1975 this small teriitory was a Portuguese colony but when Portugal released its colonies into independence, the Indonesians reacted quickly and annected East Timor. As long as dictator Suharto was in power, the country remained a part of Indonesia. Rebel uprisings ended in bloodbath. After Suharto had resigned, a referendum for indpendence was conducted in 1999 and in 2002 East Timor finally declared independency. After 25 years of war it then was among Asias poorest with not even a functioning hotel in the capital of Dili. Meanwhile, offshore oil reserves are being exploited raising hopes that this country could develop also economically in the near future.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Togo*

They were located in the African joint pavillon.










There was not much to see, except: photos










But the photos were gourgeous photos, and transferred the countrys spirit to China.










So, no need for more comments, just enjoy the pictures


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Tonga*










Another small country and like Togo it has been a German colony as well










The exhibition displayed the usual stuff but unlike in other joint pacific pavillons, there was a friendly local ready to talk and answer questions, making this pavillon a highlight of its own.










What else is there left to say? Togo is a bunch of islands with an expanse of 700 sgkm and some 100,000 inhabitants. It is located not far from the international dateline therefore its people are the first to welcome the new date. In 2000, the country managed to make some money out of its special location and invited tourists to celebrate the new millenium on Tonga.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Trinidad and Tobago*

RED. One word says it all 










This model of TTs capital Port of Spain stood quite out from the rest from what was shown in the joint pavillon, showing that the capital has become a commercial hub for the Caribbean. 










But also the rest of the pavillon was quite different from other boothes in the same section which was not only due to the red colour. They occupied a considerably larger are and had even ramped up a small cinema.










Of course there was also space for the usual artefacts.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Turkey, part 1*










After all these small countries, its time for something big again. Turkey somehow managed to keep its "insider tip" image until the Expos end which translated into an attractive combination of short queuing and attractive sights in the interior.










Less glorious was the news about a Turkish staff being fired during the Expo because of hitting an impatient visitor.










It was quite easy for Turkey to invent an attractive motto as the worlds first city were located in an area we now call Iraq or Turkey. This was 10,000 years ago. The picture above shows a mural from the town of Catahoyuk, its about 9,000 years old. And this is how the city might have looked like.










So while most countries tried to look ahead to develop the city of the future, Turkey looked back to where it all began.










Corresponding to its motto *The Cradle of Civilization*, the exhibition included spectacular attractions such as a model of the worlds first city or the worlds first ceramics or insriptions.










These sights were displayed in a very dark place with chilly ambient music. 










Even the notoriously high noise level decreased.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Turkey, part 2*










This is a model of the city of Byzanz. It was renamed to Constantinopel in 297 BC and later in 1453AD to Istanbul when Turkey was already long time islamized and conquered by the Sejuks.










Another important artefact was this peace treaty, the oldest existing which was signed in the 13th BC between the Hetits and the Egyptians










As walked on, time was slowly moving on through the centuries. The ceramics shown below are from the 15. th century.










People spend most of their time visiting the basement but there was also a top floor. 










The movie about an ordinary 24 hour day in Istanbul was a bonus and beamed people right into the 21st century.










At the exit we finally found what we had been looking for in Shanghai for almost two years: a restaurant serving tasty (and REAL, no fake!) Doner Kebap!
But obvioulsy also the Chinese had learned about this delicious food through a lot of "tingshuo" therefore the queue was even longer than the one to get inside the pavillon. So we just left it at some turkish ice cream.


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## Rinchinlhumbe (Dec 20, 2008)

*Tunesia*










Tunesia could afford an own pavillon which was consequently placed between Libyas and Algerias. As with both neighbouring countries, the exterior was nothing special as it used the standardized boxy design and some blue colour and photographs was put on it










Inside it was one of the better Afican pavillons, although nothing really spectacular. 










The whole performance consited of attraction and ideas which were also shown in other places but it was quite pleasant to watch.










Some nice movies and pictures set in Islamic architecture. 










A place to relax - and thats what most Chinese visitors did.










I do not quite remember what this man was doing. Unfortuntely my Chinese is too weak to understand whats written on the boards










We visited this pavillon about half a year before the revolution in Arabia started to evolve in Tunisia.


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