Visitors queue to enter the Spain Pavilion in the World Expo Park in Shanghai, east China, April 25, 2010. The building, nicknamed "rattan basket", has its steel frame dressed in 8,542 wicker panels in brown, beigem and black, which creat a beautiful scene. (Xinhua/Wang Song)
by Xinhua writer Guo Likun
SHANGHAI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- In a former shipbuilding yard on Shanghai's Huangpu River, an array of exotic, wild and exquisite buildings are opening to millions of visitors from around the world.
"These dream spaces could be a perfect place to shoot wedding pictures," said Yao Hongmei, a visitor to the preview of the Shanghai World Expo.
The 27-year-old interpreter with the Shanghai International Studies University posed among the crowds in front of the "wild" African pavilion.
The Shanghai World Expo, which will run from May 1 to Oct. 31, is expected to attract 70 million visitors from around the world.
Visitors can see the Nepal Pavilion with its replica of an Aniko-style Buddhist pagoda in Kathmandu and the Portugal Pavilion with its walls of cork, a Portugal-sourced, recyclable and environment friendly material.
The word "dream" is frequently used in descriptions of the site.