Postcard from the Expo: Different views, cultures in different parts of China
SHANGHAI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The following is a contribution from Susann Muller, a Swiss visitor to the Expo's Switzerland Pavilion with her friend.
Postcard from the Expo: Different views, cultures in different parts of China
We came to the main gate of the Expo Park at 7:30 a.m. this morning. When the park opened at 9, we hurried to the Swiss Pavilion.
We wanted to try the rooftop cable car, the biggest attraction at the pavilion. But it was closed for maintenance, so we had to wait. That' s why I started writing postcards. We come from Switzerland, and just had an eight-day trip in China. We visited the political, historical and economical capitals of China: Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. Now we are ending the trip by visiting the World Expo.
China is a great country with a long history. We have seen many different scenes and cultures in the different cities. Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai are all interesting because every city has its own characteristics and unique charm.
But one thing in common is that there are so many people in China. Switzerland has a total population of 7 million. But there are at least 20 million people in Shanghai. It's incredible if you don't come here by yourself.
At the Expo Park, we noticed something interesting. Chinese people open their umbrellas to protect them from the sunshine, which we can't understand because we only use umbrellas when it rains. In Europe, the sun does not shine too much. If you get a little bit of sunshine, you catch it all. You're not supposed to stay in the shade; on the contrary, you should go out into the beautiful sunshine.
Shanghai is very famous, even if it were not the host city of World Expo. It has lots of fans in Europe. We all think Shanghai is as modern as other big cities in the world. We were really impressed by the amazing modern architecture in Pudong and the classic buildings along the Bund. If you want to shop, you can buy everything you want. We love food here too. We just think everything here is amazing, we like it a lot.
(From Xinhua News)
