Podcast

Rush of visitors to Expo in a lull

Updated: 2010-09-03 11:19

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Shanghai’s Expo Garden has seen a sharp decrease in the number of visitors this week, but organizers said the drop is temporary and visitors would increase again with the National Day holiday, which is around the corner.

More than 223,000 visitors entered Expo Garden on Sept 2. It was the third day that the number of visitors hovered around 200,000. The high on Aug 21 reached more than 560,000 visitors.

According to Expo organizers, the drop in group visitors and the start of a new school semester led to a dramatic decrease in visitors during the first few days of the week.

Meanwhile, the extreme weather forecast for Shanghai also made some people cancel trips to Expo Garden in the past few days.

Some citizens are now recognizing a good opportunity for a relatively easy tour of Expo Garden, following the drop in temperature and visitor volume.

Queuing times outside some popular pavilions have shortened significantly.

It may take visitors less than one hour to get into some famous European pavilions such as the Italy Pavilion. At peak times, it had taken three hours to get in.

The queuing time outside the Saudi Arabia Pavilion has been shortened to five hours, from eight to nine hours during peak days in the past four months.

Comfortable weather conditions have also enticed some seniors to plan their trips to Shanghai.

Expo organizers estimated that the number of visitors to Expo Garden would remain stable in the next two weeks.

The number of visitors may surge again after the middle of September during China's seven-day National Day holiday and Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Shanghai Oriental Post also reported that some 18 million Expo tickets still had not been used by the end of August.

"We expect to see a dramatic increase in the number of visitors in October," said Chen Xianjing, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Questions:

1. How many people are visiting Shanghai Expo this month?

2. What is the reason for the drop in numbers?

3. What is the result?

Answers:

1. More than 223,000 visitors entered Expo Garden on Sept 2. It was the third day that the number of visitors hovered around 200,000.

2. The drop in group visitors and the start of a new school semester led to a dramatic decrease in visitors during the first few days of the week.

3. Queuing times outside some popular pavilions have shortened significantly.

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About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is fluent in Korean and has a 2-year-old son.