It’s now 27 days to go until the opening of the World Expo. As the preparation anxieties are mounting up, one more thing to add to it is the expected number of visitors from all over world who will be attending Shanghai’s biggest event.
Seventy million is not a small number (with 40 million visitors on average daily), and Yu Zhengsheng who is the Executive Committee Director of the Shanghai World Expo confidently assured the public in an exclusive interview that this will be one unforgettable World Expo–in a good way of course.
Security is one of the topmost concerns. How do you manage 70,000,000 people going in and out of the Expo site? With the 3.28-square-kilometers-span, it can be figured out approximately how the people are distributed per square meter. And it’s not balanced. “The top-of-mind issue is peace and order. And the issue that gives the most headache is managing and balancing the visitor flow,” Yu said in Chinese.
During the 184 days of the Expo, the number of visitors trickling (or bustling) in is definitely not evenly distributed. To avoid overcrowding, measures must be undertaken on how to guide the visitors in each area. The Expo handlers can not force or restrict the people, but they can take note of the following 5 points instead in order to give a sense of control:
I. Ticket structure
Expo Tickets could be divided into two categories, Individual Tickets and Group Tickets.
Visits using group adminssion tickets can be arranged by appointment. So this is actually preferred by the handlers to be sold. Individual tickets are avalable too. But during busy times, individual tickets could be made less available.
Individual Tickets could be subdivided into 7 kinds of tickets: Peak Day single day admission, Peak Day special admission, Standard Day single day admission, Standard Day special admission, 3 day admission, 7 day admission ticket and evening admission.
Group Tickets could be further classified into 2 kinds: Group Admission & Student Group Admission.
Peak Day refers to China Labor’s Day (May 1st-3rd, 2010), National Day (October 1st – 7th, 2010) and Expo Ending Week (October 25th – 31st, 2010), totally 17 days.
Standard Day refers to all visiting days (167 days in total) except for Peak Days during the Expo.
Peak Day tickets are designed to control visitor flow on predicted peak days of the Expo by designating dates, limiting volume and increasing prices. They are further classified as Single Day Admission and Special Admission.
To control the number of visitors, Evening Admission Tickets are only available at the Booking Office of Shanghai World Expo Park. The other 6 kinds of Individual Tickets could be booked in advance via designated Expo ticket-selling outlets.
Ticket Types, Pricing, and Regulation
Individual Tickets
| Ticket Types | Pricing | Regulation | Notes | |||
| Pre-sale | Expo | |||||
| I 3.27-6.30, 2009 |
II 7.1-12.31, 2009 |
III 1.1-4.30, 2010 |
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| Peak Day Single Day Admission |
170 RMB | 180 RMB | 190 RMB | 200 RMB | 1. For all visitors; 2. On the designated day or any Standard Day; 3. One ticket per person, valid for one entry on the day of admission; |
Peak Day tickets are designed to control visitor flow on predicted peak days of the Expo by designating dates, limiting volume and increasing prices. They are further classified as Single Day Admission and Special Admission. Peak Days include “Labor Day” Holiday (May 1-3, 2010), “National Day” Holiday (Oct. 1-7, 2010), and the last week before the closing date (Oct. 25 – 31, 2010), with 17 days in total. |
| Peak Day Special Admission |
N/A | 110 RMB | 120 RMB | 1. For the disabled; 2. For people born in or before 1950; 3. For students with valid IDs; 4. For children above 1.2m; 5. For Chinese military personnel on active duty; 6. Valid IDs are required upon ticket purchase and entry; 7. On the designated day or any Standard Day; 8. One ticket per person, valid for one entry on the day of admission. |
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| Standard Day Single Day Amission |
130 RMB | 140 RMB | 150 RMB | 160 RMB | 1. For all visitors; 2. On any Standard Day other than Peak Day; 3. One ticket per person, valid for one entry on the day of admission |
Standard Day tickets refer to the tickets for all visiting days (167 days in total) except for Peak Days during the Expo. They are classified as Single Day Admission, Special Admission, 3-day Admission, 7-day Admission and Evening Admission. |
| Standard Day
Special Admission |
N/A | 90 RMB | 100RMB | 1. For the disabled; 2. For people born in or before 1950; 3. For students with valid IDs; 4. For children above 1.2 m; 5. For Chinese military personnel on active duty; 6. Valid IDs are required upon ticket purchase and entry; 7. On the designated day or any Standard Day; 8. One ticket per person, valid for one entry on the day of admission. |
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| 3 Days Admission | N/A | 400 RMB | 1. For all visitors; 2. On the designated day or any Standard Day; 3. One ticket per person, valid for one entry per day; |
The tickets are designed to meet the multi-entry demand of visitors. | ||
| 7 Days Admission | N/A | 900 RMB | 1. For all visitors; 2. Valid for any seven days except Peak Days; 3. One ticket per person, valid for one entry per day. |
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| Evening Admission | N/A | 90 RMB | The ticket is designed to allow people to visit the site after peak hours and to balance visitor flow, and is only sold onsite on Standard Days during the Expo session. | |||
Group Tickets
| Ticket Types | Pricing | Regulation | Notes |
| Group Admission | For authorized travel agents only. | 1. For groups with no less than 15 people; 2. Tickets should be purchased in advance and reservation is required before entry; 3. Valid for one entry on the day of admission. |
Group tickets are designed to encourage organized visits and balance visitor flow. The tickets are not available for individuals. |
| Student Group Adimission | For authorized travel agents and education institutions only. | 1. For groups with no less than 30 students; 2. For standard day only; 3. Tickets should be purchased in advance and reservation is required before entry; 4. Valid for one entry on the day of admission; |
II. Ticket sales
Group tours by appointments are generally encouraged. To further promote this idea, private cars under this admission ticket can park within the Expo site.
Group Tickets could be booked through travel agencies appointed by the Expo Organizing Committee; Student Group Tickets could be purchased through appointed travel agencies or educational institutes or organizations.
III. Scheduled activities
Because there will be various of activities planned within the Expo site, visitors can thus avoid the peak days or weekends.
IV. Expo materials and information guide
Every minute during the Expo, the handlers will be releasing up-to-date info like how many people are staying in the hotels, how many visitors are entering the site, and other traffic figures valuable to the public.
V. Reservations
Some of the pavillions need reservations before one could go in. One example is the China pavillion and the theme pavillios. The other foreign pavillions are also by appointment; but until now, there is no final decision with regards to that.
Yu Zhengsheng emphasized that the Shanghai government is not for restricting visitor access. They just want to guide the visitor flow, and the participants can thereby decide for themselves how to go about it.
The Shanghai Municipal Government has already announced that April 30 to May 4 be declared as holidays. This was also one of the measures undertaken to accommodate traffic flow.
The Shanghai World Expo is a major event for the Chinese people. “I feel the great responsibility and the stress. But if you do not think that there are gains and honors, you would not feel this,” Yu concludes.
2010 Shanghai World Expo will held from May 1st to October 31st, 2010 in Pudong District, Shanghai. The Expo Park open time is 09:30 — 22:30 every day during the Expo period.
Baoru, do you have a personal blog or is this it?
Hi Joni, welcome to our blog! This is a group blog on everything you want to know about China. (Well, we try to make it all that).
Hi Baoru, As I mentioned on our other correspondence we are braving the Expo when we are in Shanghai from the UK later this week. I note students also qualify for reduced entry fee in the form of the Special Admission tickets. Does it only applies to those studying in China? If not, what form of ID is acceptable for International students?
Hi Gil,
It applies to all students generally. You just have to present a valid ID (like the real school ID itself). Same with senior citizens as well!