The Life and Sunshine Pavilion has received more than 1.24 million visitors as of Sunday, more than doubling the operator's estimate of 600,000, the pavilion director said yesterday.
The pavilion's exhibition has won approval and praise from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary General of the Bureau of International Expositions Vicente Loscertales, Cao Ziping, director of the pavilion, told a press conference at the Expo site yesterday.
Ban spoke highly of the pavilion as it is the first such specially for the disadvantaged in the 159-year history of the World Expo. Loscertales said the pavilion's debut in the World Expo has great significance.
Daily attendance to the 1,200-square-meter pavilion averages about 10,000 visitors. So far, more than 10,000 disadvantaged people have visited the pavilion, Cao said.
The pavilion has planned a series of activities, including performances by handicaped artists from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in October and a special ball game for the blind on the 159th day of the Shanghai Expo.
Guide dogs are available for the blind to visit the pavilion in October, Cao said.
At the press conference, some disabled volunteers and artists talked about their experiences working at the pavilion which aims to draw people's attention to the life of the disadvantaged and to give them a better life in the future.
