A Drastic Solution?
Tourism Boost For Tibet
Deep Sea Discovery
Amusing Mascots
Credit Card Crunch?
Is The Shanghai Expo Important?
Shanghai Expo
What Is The Mascot Meant To Be?

 

It may be known as the dragon, but China’s most recognizable living mascot is the less fearsome giant panda. Pandas have proved a hugely profitable exhibit in zoos around the world. Now, as Andrew Livingstone reports, the province where the majority of the world’s pandas live is gearing up to cash in on a black and white resource.

If anyone doubts the significance of the world expo, don’t tell that to the Chinese. In the wake of the global financial crisis, China has committed to organizing the largest-ever world expo.

Once called the world’s fair, the numbers surrounding next year’s event in Shanghai are staggering. China will spend about 4.2 billion dollars staging the expo, more, in fact than was spent for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Expo organizers expect 70 million people to attend the 6-month-long festival including about 3.5 million visitors from overseas. Compare this to the last world expo, which was held Japan in 2005, and attracted slightly over 22 million visitors.

This year's Shanghai world expo is getting closer. And the organizers aren't the only ones busy preparing for the event. Hundreds of Chinese families are also getting ready to welcome foreign visitors to their home.

SHANGHAI EXPO: WORTH THE COST?
EXPO CASH COW
EXPO BONANZA
MURDER MYSTERY
GOING WEST
PRISONERS' KIDS

The Shanghai Expo has been an opportunity for China to put its culture on display for the world. Now one of the oldest art forms in the country is getting a modern makeover and generating global attention.