“Better city, better life” is the Shanghai 2010 World Exposition motto. In accordance with it, one of the city’s airport becomes bigger, more convenient and more energy efficient.

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (上海红桥机场)’s new Terminal No. 2 as well as a second runway officially opened on March 16. Hongqiao is the city’s second airport after Pudong International airport (浦东国际机场). It is mainly a big hub for inland flights. The new construction will increase the airport’s flight capacity by 60%. It will also improve the passengers’ comfort and diminish queuing time. Furthermore it is well connected to the city’s public transportation network with a new subway station.

During the reorganisation and expansion of the airport, a lot of effort went into energy saving measures like solar energy, etc.  As a result, the rejuvenated airport will be able to save up to 65% of its energy costs.

The opening comes in time, a month and a half before the beginning of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. The extension of the airport is part of the city’s equipment enhancement plan for this event.

According to the airport’s homepage, almost all inland flights have been moved to the new terminal.

Chinese sources: 上海虹桥机场2号航站楼16日投入运营; 上海虹桥机场2号航站楼正式启用(组图); 虹桥机场改扩建后节能65%

It is now less than hundred days until the opening of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and the Thailand pavilion is already letting visitors in. We are talking here about the virtual online version of the Expo. Thailand is the first country to open its virtual pavilion.

Virtual pavilions are replicas of the actual pavilions. When you visit the online version of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and walk by the Thailand pavilion, you now get the possibility to click on “enter”. This will take you into the Thailand pavilion. Once in the pavilion, the visitor can walk around, get explanations about the pavilion’s theme, watch videos, etc.

The theme of  Thailand’s pavilion is “Thainess: Sustainable Ways of Life”. The pavilion is separated in three halls, each of them dedicated to a specific concept:

• “The cycle of life by the water”
• “Trade and interaction with foreign states as impetus for development and progress”
• “Sufficiency Philosophy as guiding light towards sustainable peace and harmony”

If nothing replaces an actual visit to the “real” World Expo, the online version can give the visitor a taste of it. Since visiting the whole Expo and all the pavilions would take many days, the virtual Expo can help you choose the sites you actually want to visit. It also serves as a complement to the “real” Expo by letting the visitor enter pavilions he wouldn’t have the time to visit otherwise.

Given China’s size and population, these kind of virtual events could in future play a role in mitigating traveling time and expenses. By visiting the online Expo, one feels not completely left out of an event, which would otherwise be out of reach for many.

Not all capabilities of the virtual Expo are accessible yet. The “Future City”, which will let online visitors interact with each other is not open yet. The Shanghai World Expo 2010 is officially opening on the first of May.

In four month, the World Expo (世博) 2010 will open in Shanghai (上海). Located on both sides of the Huangpu (黄浦) river and organised under the slogan “Better City, Better Life”, the expo is thus linking together the older and the newer parts of Shanghai.

If you can’t wait to get a glimpse at what the site and the several pavilions will look like, you can visit Expo Shanghai Online. Described as “a revolutionary solution to innovate the traditional way of presenting a world exposition”, the English version of this virtual expo is now open for online visitors.

 When you visit the website, you get the possibility to create an account or login with your QQ ID, if you have one. QQ is a series of online services (email, instant messaging, social networks, etc) by Shenzhen (深圳) based company Tencent (腾讯), which is a technological partner of the expo.

Right now, Expo Shanghai Online looks like a street view map, where one can walk by the different pavilions and get a short audio introduction for each of them by expo mascot Haibao (海宝). There are also night view, panorama and bird’s eye view options.

But in future the website should get much more interactive. Exposing countries or organisations will be able to offer 3d versions of their pavilions. This will give online visitors the possibility not only to walk by the pavilions, but also to enter them and visit them like “real” visitors. France for example has announced, that its virtual pavilion will open on the first of May, the official opening day of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Visitors will be able to create their own character and interact with each other; events will be broadcasted live on the website; etc.

Another important aspect is that the online expo will continue to exist even after the expo on the ground closes.