Shanghai has been one of the main city envisioned to host the expos for some time.Many scholars have written about the possibility and made suggestions in books.Unofficial participation in fairs outside China have happened since 1851.In 1910 the Qing dynasty decided to host China's first fair with the 1910 Nanyang industrial exposition.[5] Though most are very small scale compared to the modern 2010 expo.
The site of the event is the Nanpu Bridge–Lupu Bridge region in the center of Shanghai along both sides of the Huangpu River.The area of the Expo 2010 covers 5.28 km2.[2]
After winning the bid to host the Expo in 2002,Shanghai began a monumental task to reshape the city.More than AU$48billion[7] was spent for the preparation,more than the cost of cleaning up Beijing in the preparations for the Olympics in 2008.Shanghai began clearing 2.6 square kilometres along the Huangpu River; that involved moving 18,000 families and 270 factories,including the Jiang Nan Shipyard,which employs 10,000 workers.
Today,the expo site is crowded with national pavilions,sculpture gardens,shops,and a sports arena and performing arts centre which is shaped like a flying saucer.
Shanghai has trained more than 1.7 million volunteers and adopted Olympic-level security measures,adding metal detectors to subway entrances and screening cars entering the city.
For the first time,Shanghai Expo will also feature an online version of the expo grounds featuring 3D renderings of the expo grounds a 3D version of the pavilion interior and offerings.
The opening ceremony was held in the evening of April 30,2010,with the attendance of dozens of world leaders.[8] The ceremony consisted of an indoor and outdoor component.Jackie Chan,Lang Lang,and Andrea Bocelli were among the performers in the indoor component.The event featured an outdoor display of fireworks,lasers,and dancing fountains after a performance by singers and dancers.[9][10] The outdoor ceremony was produced by David Atkins Enterprises.6,000 LED balls were floated into the Huangpu river representing fish.Organisers called the outdoor show "the largest searchlight display in history,the largest collection of multi-coloured laser firepower ever assembled in one place,the world’s largest LED screen,one of the largest dancing water fountains ever,and the “l(fā)argest light show ever attempted”."[11] President Hu Jintao declared the opening of the Shanghai World Expo.