Now is the best time to visit the Shanghai Expo

Now is the best time to visit the Shanghai World Expo because the scorching weather and the summer holidays are over. As the Expo is set to end in late October, many people are looking to grasp their final opportunities to visit the Expo. The Expo organizer suggests that tourists should make visits as early as possible partly because the weather is currently very cool and partly because the Expo Site may become more crowded in mid to late September and October.

Fewer visitors, less time spent waiting in lines

The average daily number of visitors stood at around 250,000 in the first few days of September, a huge decline compared to the 400,000 to 500,000 visitors per day in July and August. This is probably because the new school semester has begun, and students have all gone back to school, and also because the number of tourist groups to the Expo has dropped in September.

The decline in the number of visitors has undoubtedly made the tour of the Expo more comfortable.

"Now is the best time to visit the Expo. It is much less crowded than before," said a tourist surnamed Wang from Jiangxi Province, who just finished his tour.

Wang originally thought he only had time to visit a little more than 20 pavilions, but it turned out that he visited more than 30 pavilions during Sept. 6 and 7.

"Although tourists still have to wait in line in front of some pavilions, the time spent queuing up was much shorter. I only waited less than three hours to visit the popular Saudi Arabia Pavilion, and more than 30 minutes for the Italy Pavilion," Wang said.

Furthermore, in the past visitors had to wait a long time in front of some popular pavilions such as the Sudan Pavilion, India Pavilion, and certain domestic pavilions, but now there is almost no need for lining up. More often than not, they can start visiting these pavilions immediately upon arrival.

Only five weeks left for standard day tickets

Oct. 1 to 7 and Oct. 25 to 31 are the Expo's designated days, during which there will be a series of joyous celebrations and grand, sparkling performances, and tourists cannot enter the Expo Site on designated days without peak day tickets, indicating that the peak day ticket is a must for those who plan to visit the Expo during the upcoming National Day holidays.

Standard day tickets will be valid only for another five weeks, and many people must have suddenly thought, "The Expo is about to end, but I have not been there yet." They really need to hurry up in the final few weeks.

Tickets are still in abundant supply at the Expo Site

The Ticket Center under the Shanghai World Expo Bureau recently said that its four major ticket agencies — China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications and China Post — have only been selling two types of tickets for October since the start of September: peak day single day admission and peak day special admission tickets.

The sales of standard day single day admission, standard day special admission, three-day admission and seven-day admission tickets have ceased. Moreover, ticket outlets, such as convenience stores and supermarkets, have stopped the sales of standard day single day admission tickets.

Abundant intraday tickets and intraday night tickets will remain available at the Expo Site and next-day tickets will be available at special outlets of the Expo Site starting from 4 p.m. of Sept. 10.

Although the sales of standard day single day admission tickets have already ceased, they are still available at the sales outlets of the four major ticket agencies. An officer at China Mobile's customer service department told reporters that standard day single day admission and standard day special admission tickets as well as peak day single day admission tickets from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 are in stock, and customers may place an order through telephone calls or directly buy them at sales outlets. An officer from a flagship outlet of Shanghai World Expo Sub-branch of China Post also said they are still selling standard day single day admission tickets.

Heavy visitor flow likely to occur in September and October

There have been over 49 million visitors to the Shanghai World Expo so far. According to ticket center of the World Expo, the number of sold but unused tickets has topped 18 million. The experience from previous World Expos show that there is a dramatic rise in visitor volume one to two months before the end of the World Expo, so the Shanghai World Expo will likely face the continuous heavy visitor flow. The average daily visitor volume is likely to hit 50,000 to 60,000 during the Mid-Autumn Festival, golden week of the National Day holidays and special days of the World Expo.

The organizer of the World Expo said the heavy visitor flow inside the Expo Site has currently been eased, and tourists should visit the pavilions during the current period when the queues for pavilions are relatively shorter. In particular, Shanghai's recent weather is appropriate for visits, so tourists should seize the opportunity to visit the Expo Site.

By People's Daily Online