National Spirit of Pavilions at World Expo-2010

By early September, the Shanghai World Expo-2010 had been already visited by 50 million people. And at least every tenth visitor has glanced at the fantastic flowers of human height in the central part of the Russian pavilion.

The fairy-tale city in the Russian pavilion charms the Chinese visitors. Most of all, the pavilion surprises children, who are astonished by how their Russian counterparts live in fancy houses (which are in fact holographic images by Russian children) and can speak Chinese.

The U.K. pavilion at the Expo-2010 is covered with several thousands of transparent acrylic rods, reminiscent of a giant dandelion or an alien hedgehog. The pavilion has won the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) prestigious RIBA Lubetkin Prize.

The highlight of the Spanish pavilion is a seven-meter high baby named Miguelin. The workers of the pavilion refer to the giant baby as “the future of Spain.” The baby turns his head, smiles, blinks and sees dreams. The dreams are shown on interactive screens at the size of the palm of the giant.

The high-tech pavilion of Japan is flooded with new gadgets. Photo cameras in the main hall of the Japanese pavilion automatically capture the smiling faces from the crowd of visitors and the images are shown on a plasma display.

In September, the Russian pavilion plays Yakut music for its visitors. Russia's northern republic of Yakutia occupies one of the regional grounds of the pavilion and represents its national innovation project Land Olonho.

The line to the Russian pavilion is one of the longest at the exhibition. People are ready to wait for four or five hours to get an opportunity to get acquainted with Russia.

The designers of the Expo-2010 pavilions were only limited to their fantasy. That’s why here are the most impossible constructions, like the Indian pavilion.

The theme of the pavilion of New Zealand is the “city of nature.” The pavilion is a garden on the earth and on the roof. Upholding the motto of the Expo-2010 “Better City, Better Life”, the pavilion says: a city is better when it is green.

An encircled panorama at the Australian pavilion goes down and the visitors look at the city of future.

Every evening at 5 p.m. the EXPO-park holds a parade. The participants of the 30- minute procession are changed according to the theme and the cultural events planned for the day. But the sophisticatedly decorated carriages are the permanent participants of the parade.