Shanghai, part 8: From France to Nepal

At the Shanghai World Expo, I wandered down the giant alley toward the Poland Pavilion, which had intrigued me with its design. Meanwhile, Chunlin rested her feet.

On the way to Poland, I passed the France Pavilion:


Past the Germany Pavilion, I spotted Poland.



It wasn't as interesting in person as in concept. It was hard to see it as folded paper from ground level.

Across the wide alley, Spain was a pleasant surprise.



The Spain Pavilion was a giant wicker basket -- and it smelled like it, too.

Come November 1, the expo will close and these buildings will no longer be good for much of anything. As far as I know, China plans to demolish all the nations' pavilions and create a new neighborhood. Only a few expo structures will survive.

I rejoined Chunlin and we hopped a shuttle bus for the other side of the expo, near the Nepal Pavilion.


At first we thought we'd go in, but then we saw the full extent of the line.



Instead, we climbed the stairs to the pedestrian walkway which runs over the street nearby.




Presumably these walkways will still exist once the expo is gone. Or at least I think they'd make a good addition to the future neighborhood's infrastructure. Separate the foot traffic from the wheeled traffic. Safer that way.

More such photos on flickr.