Expo

Wednesday June 23
The Shanghai Expo set an attendance record yesterday. 500,000 people waiting in line to see exhibits from around the world. Since many Chinese people are very excited about the Expo the city is full of visitors. For some Chinese, it is their only chance to “see the world”. It is very expensive for Chinese people to travel and they may not be able to acquire the necessary visa to go where they would like to go. Once they arrive at the Expo, they begin the waiting. The larger, elaborate exhibits (for example: Japan, Saudi Arabia, USA), which people have heard are good, required as much as a five hour wait. As a member of the group said, “If there wasn’t a wait, there was a very good reason why.” Those pavilions did not have much to see."
My highlight: eating kebab in a Turkish restaurant in China and speaking German with the manager, who used to live in Germany. The Turkish ice cream guy was the best. He scooped the ice cream with a 3 ½ foot long scoop and then performed tricks with the scoop pulling the cone, stuck to the scoop, right out of your hand spun it around before handing it back to you with great flair.
Also interesting, the Chinese, hot and tired, fast asleep on the benches in the shade. After a long day, in 95 degree heat, I could certainly understand that! The most popular gift idea from the expo, Haibo, the blue mascot that looks like a little man made out of toothpaste. Haibos for everyone?