Shanghai World Expo 2010 (城市让生活更美好)

城市让生活更美好 - This slogan, 口号, that can be seen all throughout the city is what's being used to promote the Shanghai World Exposition 2010. Literally meaning "Better City, Better Life," it's hard to miss the blue mascot waving everywhere in train stations and all the posters put up to remind everyone that come May 1st, 2010 an approximate 80 million tourists will come to China, 70 of whom are expected to be Chinese.

Yesterday, I mentioned how the World Expo in Shanghai was just another way of putting the city in the spotlight as mainland China's financial center. In an article in today's Huffington Post, the point is raised that the U.S., unlike most other participating countries in the Expo, have still not set up their pavilion for the show. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blythe-mcgarvie/g20-and-the-shanghai-worl_b_182650.html

Before reading this article, I had been asking friends what exactly is the point of this event. Some responses I got were that back in the day these Expos were actually important because they provided the venue where people like Alexander Bell could go and show off their invention and have the world quickly latch on to the innovation.

But my thinking was so what about today?

The article gives a nice summary of the background and relevance of the Expo today. In it we learn that the last Expo was in 2005 in Aichi, Japan. About 24 million people attended. For 2010, countries like France and Germany are expected to promote their food and beverages along with their architecture by creating different venues to showcase their national products. Canada is said to be constructing a Cirque du Soleil building themed around 'play.

Basically, the Expo, it seems, is the venue where the world can bring whatever they want to marketize and try to catch the attention of a huge market here in China.

What will the U.S. promote? I have no idea.