Shanghai World Expo opens

Thousands of people flooded into Shanghai’s World Expo Saturday at the start of a six-month showcase of culture and technology seen as the latest sign of China’s growing economic might.

Organizers have said all 500,000 tickets are sold out for opening day at the massive Expo park along the Huangpu river, where visitors will wander through the exhibits of 189 nations, as well as dozens of companies and organizations. People waited to visit China’s red inverted pyramid - the centrepiece of Expo park - with 50,000 tickets handed out within five minutes of the park opening.

Shanghai kicked off the Expo on Friday night with a star-studded music and fireworks extravaganza, signalling it would be bigger and brighter than the more low-key World’s Fairs in recent years.

AFP