Fact: There are only 4 to 5 thousand living dragons left in the wild. I learned this and many other curious facts whilst wandering through the Indonesia Expo pavilion last week. After the initial befuddlement at finding out that not only are there dragons alive and well in Asia (a long-kept secret suspicion of mine) but that there could actually be 5000 (!!!), I sadly realized that this statistic referred to komodo dragons (oh come on, they’re just lazy lizards with gigantism). Nevertheless, I found myself simultaneously amused and educated by the Indonesia pavilion – something I hadn’t quite anticipated. The cultural displays, the distant sounds of tribal drumbeats, the delicious curry-ish scent floating around, and the assertion that Indonesia is in fact the “Potpourri of Life” – all these things left me with an urge to Google trips to Bali that night.
And this pavilion, out of the hundreds at the World Expo, is apparently one of the more average ones.
So what exactly is this World Expo, you may ask? Well you may know it better as the World’s Fair and probably associate it with that massive gold ball in Knoxville… but the concept of World Expo is actually very interesting. Hosted by one country every so often, countries and corporations are given a chance to build pavilions at a fair ground in which to showcase new architectural and technological innovation, present their culture to people across the world, and more recently to show off their efforts towards environmental sustainability (the Portuguese pavilion is made entirely of cork and Spain is made of wicker. Nifty.). It’s basically a (debatedly) cooler version of Epcot… with Mickey Mouse replaced by Haibao, a goofy looking Gumby knock-off.
After debating for weeks whether to go or not (lines in China are deadly), I was finally reeled in last week. We decided to go at night when the tickets are cheaper, the lights turn on in the buildings, and most of the tourists leave after having been there since 7 AM. It turned out to be… awesome. We spent more time meandering around the park and munching on frozen yog than actually visiting the insides. But merely looking at the outsides of the buildings was impressive. Yeah there were some that were inherently doomed to be pitiful (aww hang in there, Algeria), but most were really amazing.
Another benefit of going in the evening is the chance to see the nightly performances. The Euro stage was hosting an energetic German electro-pop band that even managed to get the middle class Chinese tourists to trow day hands up. Maybe because they enthusiastically shouted “WE MAKE DA YOUNG PEOPLE DAAANCE!” every few minutes.
We ended our night at the USA Pavilion, which has a rather lackluster series of videos about environmental sustainability, diversity, freedom, blah blah. The most exciting moment was when the audience was misted with water to simulate a rainstorm… Great, now I’m less patriotic and damp. Thanks USA.
Rankings of the pavilions I’ve visited so far (a pathetic list)– USA: 3. Nepal: 3. Indonesia: 4. Don’t know why we chose those three. We’ll have to try harder next time.
Pavilions I want to see– China. Duh. It’s the biggest, the most interactive, and the longest line. You have to show up promptly when the park opens to register for daily tickets. Spain. I’ve heard there’s a colossal baby inside. UK. Because it has a massive fiber optics building called the Seed Cathedral? Africa. All of the African nations combined into one. Japan. Because it looks like what you get when you put a marshmallow in the microwave.
For more cool Expo pics– Check out this site.
