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Updated Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:04 am TWN, By Pascale Trouillaud, AFP

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Countdown to Shanghai World Expo begins

The British pavilion looks like a giant ball of acrylic rods, Poland's construction brings to mind intricately cut paper and Germany's is built at sharp angles.

The French pavilion opposite is cloaked in a concrete fishnet, while Switzerland's will see visitors ride chair lifts on the building's grassy roof. Japan, meanwhile, has chosen a kind of purple turtle, the Netherlands a bright yellow tulip, Romania a big green ball and Finland a huge white bowl.

The biggest of all is China's main national pavilion ─ a large, red inverted pyramid that can be seen from far away and which Xu says represents “wisdom, wealth and harmony.”

And China's Expo performance centre, which looks like a flying saucer, can house an audience of up to 18,000 people.

“Better city, better life” ─ organizers ─ hope the Shanghai Expo will allow for reflection on the idea of long-lasting and green urbanization and are putting the emphasis on energy-saving.

On the as-yet-unfinished “Expo Boulevard,” huge trumpet-shaped structures will soak up the sun's rays to light up galleries and catch the rain to water the green areas.

The separate Chinese theme pavilion, which will host exhibitions during the Expo, is covered in solar panels, visitor shuttles are electric and all the lighting used to illuminate the building at night is energy-efficient.

As the start of the Expo nears, 18 million tickets have already been sold ─ more than expected at this stage.

With organizers planning for peaks of 800,000 to one million visitors a day, security is a major headache for authorities ─ more than it was for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as the Expo will last six months.

“We will try to limit the number of visitors some days,” said Xu, who added that China “wants foreigners to come” when asked about the possibility of visa restrictions such as those implemented during the Beijing Games.

Foreigners are expected to account for five percent of total visitors, or at least 3.5 million people.

At the French pavilion, marketing director Franck Serrano said he hoped to attract 10 percent of visitors.

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