Shanghai On Stage

When my daughter Andrea called to tell me about the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, I said, "Let's go!" I have always talked about going to China because as a child, I had a book about children around the world. One of the pictures in the book showed two Chinese children with bowls and the caption under the picture stated they were eating breakfast. That picture piqued my curiosity about having breakfast in China. Since then, I have wondered about Chinese art, politics, and yes, I'm still intrigued by their cuisine.

Shanghai, the largest city in the world, has a population of 21.5 million people. In presenting the World Expo 2010, the city was on stage and its people were scripted and directed. According to a local business translator, the real purpose of the Expo was to present a civilized image of Shanghai for Expo visitors. As a reminder of its mission, written on a scrolling billboard at the Expo were the following instructions: "[I]n order to show a civilized image for Expo visitors please queue up, classify garbage, protect exhibits, do not smoke in smoke-free areas, claim gifts in an orderly manner, please use polite expressions." A similar message was listed on the fans handed out at the Expo. Also, we were told by residents that over the course of a year all of the buildings in the entire city had been power washed, flowers and trees had been planted, lights were hung, and residents were asked not to hang laundry out to dry—all to ensure that Shanghai sparkled. The appearance was so pristine that there were no street vendors, not even selling tee-shirts or postcards.

As for the Expo itself, the ticket price was reasonable—a three-day pass cost $63 US, but the adventure of getting our tickets was anything but reasonable....(continued)