Imagine for a second what $40 billion could buy you. This is the astronomical amount that China and Shanghai spent to host the largest World Expo in history. Starting tomorrow, May 1, there will 189 countries and 50 international organizations represented at the event.
The site of Expo 2010 Shanghai covers a little more than five square kilometres, equivalent to twice the size of Monaco. And, on top of that, it is in the heart of an already overpopulated city where leaders chose to install everything. To achieve this feat, China was forced to evict and relocate 272 factories and more than 60,000 people.
If all goes as planned, from 70 to 100 million people will visit the site. Of these visitors, an estimated 95% will be Chinese and only 5% will come from elsewhere, mainly from Japan and Korea.
Expo 2010 Shanghai starts May 1 and lasts six months until October 31.