Half Chinese visitors to World Expo 2010 will stop first at U.S. Pavilion

In other news: Shanghai dining gossip served on a silver platter and the NBA’s Stephon Marbury moves to Shanxi

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Video rendering of the Israel Pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai. The pavilion will consist of three areas: the Whispering Garden, the Hall of Light and the Hall of Innovations.

The Expo might still be 93 days away, but Chinese visitors already know where they’re heading. In a recently completed Ogilvy survey, almost half of Chinese visitors have United States Pavilion down as their first stop. Maybe they just want to see if it’s actually there and complete, considering one fifth of all 2010 Expo pavilions won’t be.

The U.S. Pavilion was followed by France Pavilion (designed by Jacques Ferrier Architects with the theme of The Sensual City) and U.K. Pavilion (designed by Heatherwick Studio). Where does the China Pavilion ranking in all of this? It was excluded from the survey (it’s pretty much a given no. 1) which only asked about foreign pavilions. The China Pavilion did top another category though, "Most beautiful structure."

The Denmark Pavilion seemed to grab people’s interest now that they know that the country’s famous "Little Mermaid" statue will be there. Who knew Hans Christian Anderson could make such an impression in China.

In other news...

Ain’t nothing but a baller: Stephon Marbury, the former NBA star known in China as "Ma Bu Li," began his career in the Middle Kingdom on Wednesday with Taiyuan Shanxi Zhongyu Professional Basketball Club -- one of the worst teams in the Chinese league.

Eat up: Catch up on dining news including the Castro family’s new five-star hotel, Laris’ new plans and what in the world is going up on the corner of Xiangyang Lu and Julu Lu.

The price is right: Shanghai Disney might attract the city’s expanding ranks of the wealthy, but the Shanghai government announced that housing around the park will consist of “budget homes,” which could be sold for as little as half the market price.

No seat for you: Over the last year an extra one million people have been using the subway every day, so the problem of subway car crowding is getting worse. Transit authorities announced that they’re considering taking out seats on Metro Line 8 to add more space for standing.

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A borough-bred Manhattanite, Jessica Beaton has lived in Shanghai for three years working as a magazine editor and freelancer writer. She's now the Shanghai city editor at CNNGo.