BEIJING, May 2 -- Shanghai opened the World Expo
Exhibition Center and unveiled the general ticketing plan for the world fair
yesterday, marking the two-year countdown to World Expo 2010.
The admission to the World Expo in Shanghai is
tentatively set at 160 yuan, Expo organizers said.
They are expected to begin selling the tickets after
the Beijing Olympics, most probably in late September, according to the Bureau
of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
The organizers said they have finished the draft plan
for the ticketing programs of the 2010 Expo and are working on the details.
The bureau plans to start trial operation of the Expo
site on January 1, 2010.
Rehearsal of the opening ceremony for the world fair
is scheduled for April 1, 2010 and preview of the exhibits will begin on April
20. The six-month Expo starts on May 1.
The organizers are expecting more than 1 million
people to visit the new exhibition center on the third floor of the Hong Kong
New World Tower on Huaihai Road M. The center will be open daily from 9 a.m. to
6 p.m.
"This exhibition center will create the necessary
bridge between Expo 2010 Shanghai and the citizens," said Vicente Loscertales,
secretary general of the International Expositions Bureau, in his congratulatory
letter on the opening of the center.
"It will constitute an important platform for
communication. It will be a place for gathering and exchange and will provide a
foretaste of the extraordinary event to come."
"When the Expo opens 730 days later, the center will
have completed its work." said Yu Li, chief planner for the center, yesterday.
The center contains some rare exhibits donated by
local governments.
One of the highlights is a brick from the Great Wall
donated by Hebei Province. The brick is one of the 10 Great Wall bricks
displayed at World Expo 1982 in Knoxville, the United States.
Visitors must book three days in advance by calling
6335-3336. Only a Chinese language service is available.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
