Curious about the Saudi pavilion? Get in line
Standing in an epic line to see the world’s largest IMAX screen, you get the impression that the entire Chinese population of 1.3 billion has had the same idea.
On a crowded day, lines have stretched more than two miles, with wait times of up to nine hours, for the Saudi Arabian pavilion, the most popular exhibit at Shanghai’s Expo 2010.
It usually takes at least six hours to see the Japanese pavilion, with a wildly popular exhibit of robots, including one that plays the violin. As for the Chinese pavilion, you’d better start queuing up at 2 a.m. outside the gates. They open at 9, and if you’re at the front, you can sprint to the pavilion, where each day guards give out free coupons for admission. Run fast: The coupons usually run out in a few minutes.
After a slow start, the Shanghai expo is drawing crowds beyond expectations, putting it well on its way to being the largest and best-attended world’s fair ever.
This being the summer holiday season, it’s not uncommon to see more than half a million people in a single day. To get an idea of the scale, consider that Disneyland reportedly draws 60,000 on a peak day.
The de rigueur accessory for the expo is a portable chair. Vendors at all the gates sell a clever multicolored model for $1.50 that folds up as small as a book, complete with carrying handle.
People bring books, cards and video games for the kids to fend off boredom during the waits, as well as umbrellas for protection from the sun during the 90-plus-degree heat.
Some bring crutches to help them endure the wait. Or better yet, they get a wheelchair.
The disabled are given priority access to most pavilions, which has led to a suspiciously large number of visitors with leg injuries. Expo organizers initially ordered 1,000 wheelchairs; they had to boost that number to 1,500 and then 3,000.
Another technique is to bring along an elderly person. Visitors older than 70, along with one companion, are entitled to bypass the queue.
“Wanting to hire 75-year-old. Car will pick you up and bring home. Free lunch and dinner included,” an Internet user advertised on one forum, according to an article that ran in the Shanghai Morning Post in mid-July. (The ad was removed after the story ran.)
Reports of line-jumping have so enraged those waiting their turn that the Internet is full of photographs of suspected cheaters: attractive young women in wheelchairs, or in one case an 8-year-old boy stuffed into a baby stroller.
“There are so many people who say they are disabled. Now we’re asking them to bring a doctor’s note,” said Loretta Huang, a spokeswoman for the Thai pavilion.
The U.S. pavilion stopped giving priority to the elderly after a few weeks because the lines for VIP access became just as long as the regular queues. People with babies, the disabled and pregnant women still get priority, although staff members laugh about one visitor who was seen taking a pillow from under her shirt and giving it to another woman.
“There are so many fakers. They’ll show up saying, ‘Oh, my leg hurts,’ or use some other story to wheedle their way into the building,” said Luke Mohr, 24, a Chinese-speaking volunteer who was working crowd control recently at the U.S. pavilion.
Despite the heavy presence of China’s paramilitary police, there have been occasional stampedes. During opening week in early May, when the U.S. pavilion was experiencing technical problems, a crowd charged through an open door, causing employees to take refuge on the second floor. More than 100 people were reported injured at the South Korean pavilion May 30 when thousands tried to get free tickets to see a popular boy band.
Still, most visitors dutifully stand in line, if anything getting into the Zen of simply waiting.
Luo Jian, a 39-year-old businessman from Shenzhen, was one hour into an anticipated seven-hour wait for the Saudi pavilion with his 12-year-old daughter and family friends. The line extended about 500 yards, wrapping around white steel crowd-control barricades. Every few minutes, a cooling mist would spray the crowd. Luo’s daughter hunched over a PlayStation Portable console.
“It’s not so bad. The kids have games, so they are not bored,” he said.
As to why he wanted to see the Saudi pavilion, he said: “I don’t really know what’s in there, but everybody else is in line, so I am too.”
Nicole Liu of The Times’ Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
Sign up for The Wild
We’ll help you find the best places to hike, bike and run, as well as the perfect silent spots for meditation and yoga.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
