Shanghai Expo2010

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Every couple of years there's a world's fair somewhere but, from what I can tell, there's no real pattern to when and where they are held and the theme is up to each location to decide. This year there was an expo (another name for world's fair) in Shanghai that was attended by over 73 MILLION people in six months. I didn't get to go the the fair while it was open but I did have the chance to visit the grounds after they closed with some folks from a meeting I attended in Shanghai.

Officially the theme of this year's expo was "Better City, Better Life" but after my visit I think that a better theme would have been "Expo 2010, A New Hope". Let me show you why I feel that a Star Wars theme is more appropriate.

First, there was Poland's pavilion:

which looked a lot like the Jawa Sandcrawler from the first Star Wars movie:

Next up, the Expo Culture Center:

which, in my opinion, was a complete rip off of the helmet worn by the Imperial Gunners who worked on the Death Star:

Spain had an interesting contribution to the "Expo 2010, A New Hope" theme by designing its pavilion:

...to look like a Tusken Raider's (a.k.a. Sand Person) clothing:

I thought that England did a great job making their pavilion:

...look like when the Millennium Falcon made the jump to light speed:

And, finally, Germany did their part by:

...approximating when the Death Star was under construction:

Unfortunately, not all the countries went with the "Expo 2010, A New Hope" theme. The Netherlands, on a high after being named one of the happiest countries in world, designed their pavilion:

...to remind everyone of how happy they are by making it look like one of those paper crowns they give out at kids parties at Burger King:

Thailand's pavilion was a cross between a crappy casino and a Thai restaurant. Wait, maybe it was just a Thai restaurant?

I was super lucky to get to walk around the closed Expo grounds. I'm guessing that it would have taken me an entire day or more to see everything that I got to see in just over two hours. And now for a parting shot of me in front of the very cool Chinese pavilion building:

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.