Avoid the expo chaos -- watch it online instead

CNNGo has a solution to the Shanghai World Expo chaos: don't go. It took about 3 hours of queueing to get into the Hong Kong Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo over the opening weekend. Queueing that took place outdoors, unsheltered, with a blazing sun overhead and temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. We think it might be a good idea to stay home and check out the various online videos and websites instead. It is kind of anti-social, but it is justified, until the novelty of the expo wears off and the hoards of visitors to the Shanghai World Expo thin out.

See the Hong Kong Pavilion's official Youtube channel for video updates and if you are planning to go visit, check out the calendar of events to time your trip to your preferred show. This month, there is an exhibition about green living at the Hong Kong Pavilion, and videos of the interactive displays can be viewed here.

 

 

Here is a quick guide to the Hong Kong Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, which critics called "plain" before it even opened:

Hong Kong Pavilion's ground level 3D video.

Ground level

The first floor is all about visual and audio stimulation. When visitors finally move from queueing outdoors to queueing in the indoor lobby area, they will encounter the soundwall where they can sample Hong Kong's iconic sounds, such as the "doot doot doot" that the MTR doors make when they are about to close. The highlight of this floor is the 3D video display. Read more.

 

 

Mid Level

The Mid Level is the second floor and features more creative uses of space. Visitors reach this floor by walking through a tunnel covered in mirrors with interactive floor lighting -- a mirror fun-house done in LED, if you will. The highlight of this level is a giant hanging artpiece made of the red plastic lamps typical of Hong Kong's wet markets. Read more.

Best bit about the Hong Kong Pavilion: the rooftop.

Rooftop

This is the oasis: a green sanctuary made from about 1,000 of Hong Kong's representative flora and woods. The rooftop garden itself also keeps the interior of the entire building cool, cutting down energy usage. We're most curious about the binoculars set up to view animals and insects that have been transported from Hong Kong. Read more.

 

 

 

Have you been to the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and lived to tell the tale? Let us know what it is really like in the comments box below.