Saturday attendance soars to record high of 505,000

Visitors outside the Netherlands Pavilion on Saturday stand in lines waiting to enter. On Saturday, attendance at the Expo Garden reached 505,000. [Wang Wenlan / China Daily]

SHANGHAI - Attendance continues to increase one month into Expo 2010 Shanghai, as the public shows escalating interest in the event.

On Saturday, attendance at the Expo Garden soared to a record high of 505,000. During the nine days prior to Saturday's record, an average of 360,000 people visited each day, which approached previous estimates that the event would attract 380,000 visitors a day.

By 8:30 pm on Sunday, the number of visitors hit 368,000 and organizers remain upbeat about the Expo's performance in the coming months.

"So far the Expo has been running smoothly," said Expo spokesperson Xu Wei. "In the past month, the organizers have continued to gain experience, listening to advice and suggestions and enhancing communications with participants."

It helps the Expo's ability to attract more visitors every day and to advance in the direction sought by its organizers, he said.

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"That is what we hope to see," Xu said. "All participants expect to attract a large number of visitors to their pavilions, but they are concerned if visitors have to wait too long."

The increasing attendance of night visitors helps balance traffic, he said. There were also good signs that the Expo's Puxi section, where corporate pavilions and the innovative Urban Best Practices Area are located, is gaining popularity.

However, both organizers and participants are concerned about overcrowding as the number of visitors increases.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people tried to cram into popular pavilions, such as the USA, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Germany pavilions.

"The long lines simply turn many visitors off," said Liu Yutang, who was visiting from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. "I only have 10 hours at the Expo Garden and I don't want to spend four or five hours just for a 20-minute glance at so-called popular pavilions."

According to Xu, long queues are always an issue at World Expos. "The overcrowding can only be alleviated, not totally tackled," he said. "We have tried to reduce the crowding at the Expo Garden to a level that visitors will understand and find acceptable."

Jose H. Villarreal, the USA Pavilion commissioner general, said it bothers him to see visitors waiting so long to get into pavilions.

To accommodate them, the US has erected a stage in front of its pavilion for performers to entertain the expectant crowd while they wait for admission.