My guest today is fellow Lost Laowai blogger, Travis.  Travis recently turned heads, and opened up tear ducts with his post titled “There and Back“, a look at the journey back home for the summer and how things changed from when he first left.  Judging by the response to the post, I certainly wasn’t the only one who was touched by his descriptions of the complicated place that we call “home”.

In keeping with the themes of his most recent post, and the fact that the summer is the most likely time for many of us to head back to the land of our birth, our topic today is going to be one that is both simple and complicated, happy and sad: home.  Join us today for Fact or Fiction IX: Homecoming!

1. Homesickness is one of the biggest challenges of living in China.

Glen: FACT

Absolutely! As much as I want to explore new things and learn about a culture that’s very new to me, it’s hard not to long for home sometimes. Every now and then I just get a craving for some maple syrup or Tim Horton’s Coffee, or I ache to watch hockey with people who appreciate it (also: I realize that I am a walking Canadian stereotype). I find the lack of peers who understand the eccentricities of my own culture to be something that I find alienating at times.

Travis: FACT

Yes. No matter who you are, this will be a problem. You go into a place with customs you don’t understand, a language you cannot speak, an alien writing system, and you get to the point where you realize: I’m alone here. All alone.

But you overcome that. You have students to help you, you make friends, you maybe get a girlfriend and then you find yourself missing certain comforts. Breathable air. Sane westerners. And after awhile, you find new comforts. You find how exciting everything is, how novel such ordinary occurrences are to you.

Then you hate everything. You hate the guy who intercepts the taxi you just spent an hour waiting to flag down, you hate the people who reschedule your classes and don’t tell you until the night before, you don’t understand why they just cannot be normal, for Christ’s sake.

If you manage to overcome all that, then a day comes when you jaywalk unafraid and are okay with last-minute dinner invitations. Holy shit! I can tell the taxi driver where to go and chat with him on the way! That’s when you know everything’s going to be okay.

A nice, family style agreement from the get go.  1 for 1.

2. Your time in China has been very different than you originally imagined it to be.

Glen: FACT

I was fully expecting to spend two years teaching in Suzhou before moving to some other continent for a new adventure. Now I have moved to Guangzhou recently, but I did not expect myself to stay in China, or to find leaving Suzhou to be so difficult. I have set up far more roots than I had originally expected to.

Travis: FACT

Oh God yes. I was supposed to spend a year teaching before going home for grad school, but before even that, I was supposed to go teach in France through the ‘assistant d’anglais’ program. I was devastated when it didn’t work out, but look where I am now: married, with an opportunity to study Chinese that I never would have had otherwise, and I’m happy with what I do. With everything that’s happened, I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I had gone to France as planned.

As for staying here one year…well, what did I know? I was the same guy who was going to France, then grad school. For my wife and I, me going home was an issue from the get-go. What happened was that I found that I was happy here, happy with her, and I loved her too much just to go back home and do what I am “supposed” to do. I stayed on for another year, and another, and I do not regret it at all.

It’s been a growing experience. It has to be, or else, what use was it? Just to have something to do for a year or two?

Things may not have gone according to plan for these two, but this post is goign according to plan.  2 for 2.

3. The culture shock of going home is harder than the culture shock when you first arrived in China.

Glen: FACT

…but not a strong fact. I think that “Reverse Culture Shock” is an incredibly understated problem for expats. Of course mannerisms and customs that take place back home are familiar to you, and it is rarely that hard to get back into the swing of things. However, that being said, I feel like when I moved to China the newness excited me, and I hada large support group of people to help me with any difficulties or shocks. However, whenever I go home I don’t have that kind of support. Sure my family and friends are there for me, but they don’t seem to understand any sort of difficulties I experience with the unfamiliar familiarities of home.

Travis: FACT

You’re dead on about the lack of a support group to help overcome reverse culture shock. And once the novelty of going on Facebook to see so-and-so’s photos of her latest trip to the grocery store wore off, I found myself wondering why I even came back in the first place.

My family cares about me, they were curious about my time in China, and if I was having problems, I could talk to them about it…but at the same time, it would be hard for them to understand where I’m coming from.

What makes it hard, I think, is that all of you have changed in your time away from home, but they (understandably) think of you as the same person you were when you left.

Still good.  Let’s switch things up.  3 for 3.

4. You do not feel as close to your family anymore.

Travis: FACT

For me, yes. We talk off and on by telephone while another teacher spoke to his family everyday on Skype. It made me feel a little ashamed. I don’t keep in touch with them as much as I should. Sometimes I find it hard. I’m doing my own thing, they’re doing theirs, and so weeks will pass without us speaking. But in the end, we’re family. So the distance doesn’t mean as much.

I think it’s much worse when it comes to friends. They’ve started grad school, their careers. They have grudging responsibilities now. The common ground we had in college and high school has been shrinking for a long time now, to the point where there’s barely anything left. I think though, that it does say a lot about the strength of your friendship, if you can reconnect easily despite how far apart you’ve grown or if there’s nothing there but experiences two years old or older. Sometimes you just have to move on.

Glen: FACT

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my family dearly, probably more now than I did when I lived in Canada.  But that being said, things felt a little…off this past summer.  I have spent a great deal of my life coming and going from the people I love.  In the past, I’ve felt like my arrival and departure were sort of…well events, big gatherings, big dinners, the whole shebang.

This time though it felt a bit more subtle and expected.  Of course my family drove to the airport to get me, my sisters were waiting at my dad’s house to see me, everything was great.  But there were no tears when I left, it was expected, another fact of life.  The consequences others had to deal with for my own decisions.  I know that they were sad to see me go (as I hope they know that I was sad to leave) but it felt natural this time.  I know it’s my fault for not calling or e-mailing as much as I should, or filling my summer with all sorts of different things, but I still felt a strange distance this time that I hadn’t felt in the past.

Wow, 4 for 4. We agree more than I do with my actual family!

5. You get homesick for China more than you do for “home”

Travis: FICTION

This is a difficult question to answer. Right now, I’d say ‘no’, based on my limited experience. While there were things I missed about China, I don’t think it compares to living in China for the first time.

Of course, I was only in the United States for a month, so this might change when I go back on a more long-term basis, but for now, I’m saying this: going to China is an adjustment while returning home is a readjustment. Difficult, but I don’t think anything close to the first year in China.

At least, I hope it isn’t…

Glen: FICTION

I have found that the last two summers I’ve been very “China Sick”, but not compared to how much I miss home.  I think a year ago, when I came back to China the first time, I would have answered “Fact”.  However, I think that it was more that I missed adventure and excitement.  But I suppose now that I’m a year wiser and a year more Chinafied, I miss the comfort and warmth of home.  China provides me with some of that, but like many things here, it’s an inferior copy.

5 for 5.  Can we have our first perfect showing?

6. You feel more at home in China than you do back “home”.

Travis: FACT

… for me, it is a fact. I left the States the summer after I graduated college. I left single, ten pounds lighter, decades younger. Fast forward to now, and you see that I simply have more of a home here than I do in America.

It is what you take with you. When I return Stateside next time, my wife will be with me. She is the crucial piece that makes China my ”home”. I see China as my home because we’re together here, we have a life here. It’s not that I prefer one place over another…I just like the life I have with her.

Glen: FICTION

…although it’s a mild fiction, if that helps.

While I’ve made a nice life for myself here, surrounded myself with wonderful people (including my wonderful girlfriend, of course), it’s still not quite the same as home.  To be honest though, I don’t want it to be.  While I crave the comforts of home at times, I still want to have a bit more excitement in my life.  In my current state of mind, if China ever becomes more home than home to me, then I think it will be time for me to go.

But that day doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon, thankfully.

Well Glen had to go and ruin it!  5 for 6.  Record is tied.

For Travis, I’m Glen, thanks for reading!  We hope that you find a welcome home, wherever that is.  As always, we welcome comments/concerns/criticisms.  Let us have it

Miss World @ Shanghai Expo Iceland Pavilion

If you’re heading to the Shanghai Expo and don’t feel like spending your day under the sun in line for one of the biggie pavilions; head over to the (surely cool) Iceland Pavilion, where you can rub elbows with Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir. According to the Iceland Expo site, Unnur is heading up the role of Deputy Director of Pavilion and Director for PR & Events (I figure that between her name and her title, she must need two business cards).

Huge hat tip and thanks to Lost Laowai reader Giulia for snapping the photo and sending in the tip. In talking to Unnur at the pavilion she mentioned she was only going to be at the pavilion for the next couple weeks, so if you’d like to meet a real-life Miss World, head on over soon.

Due to a computer glitch, Tom lost his VPN the other night and without it decided to traipse around the Internet as viewed from inside China (and with no tunnel out). Poking around here and there and brushing up against its fiery walls, he concludes that the various blocks in place aren’t just to outright deny access, but rather to make it more convenient to get information from a more controlled and State-friendly source.

Am pausing now to wonder what this tells us.

There are some things that the state here does not tolerate. Trouble in and the Uighur regions. Discussion of the crackdown. Interference by Western groups. Unregulated communication by the masses via platforms like Twitter and YouTube.

Beyond that, the approach is much more nuanced. You can use Google, but it’s not as convenient as Yahoo. You can learn about some history in general, but not in particular. You can write and read blogs, though access is a bit haphazard. In other words, there is a large field of things that the government will allow, with the price of dealing with a sliding scale of hassle.

Read the whole post here: Losing my VPN. A virtual disappearance in China

7. The Internet

I’m a freedom-loving American, so the whole idea of the The Great Fire Wall is a great annoyance to me and my values.  It also screws with my mind.  When I first came to China, Facebook still worked but Wikipedia was blocked.  I had never realized how much I actually used Wikipedia to find out random, unimportant information.  When Facebook was blocked, I thought “how can I live without this?”  Turns out it’s pretty easy and I’m considering deleting mine when I go home.  I do understand why certain sites are blocked, but it’s hard to understand the reasoning behind the blockade of sites like Dropbox.

While I’ve been able to wrap my brain around most of the stuff GFW blocks; the self-censorship on Chinese message boards, QQ, and sites like ChinaSmack is far more confusing to me.  ChinaSmack posts so many articles in which Netizens get so hyped up and critical over other people doing the most banal and trivial things, yet was shut down “for maintenance” during the big T-square anniversary in 2009.

8. People on the Internet

When I first found ChinaSmack, I was in awe over how stupid and racist the commenters were on that site.  I’m sure the people who run that site pick the most ridiculous comments to republish just to make it a good read, but they’re really not doing the Netizens favors by translating those comments into English.

Even on expat sites, commenters are so critical of each other.  Some foreigners actually get angry at other foreigners for making observations about China (good examples on Ericka‘s article about Women’s Toilets).

I’d like to point out that when I went back to the states for a week last summer, I realized that it’s not just expats on expat sites that are jerks or Chinese people on Chinese sites that are racist.  There are dumb commenters on every site.  I realized that before ChinaSmack I had just never read blog post comments thoroughly before. Go to YouTube and check out that Chocolate Rain video again.  That dude is still awesome, but you’ll still find some racist idiots commenting on how chocolate that dude is.

9. Spitting

When I first came, I was grossed out by it.  I’ve even met other expats who have assumed that people are trying to spit on them or just trying to be rude.  But after a few months here I realized something, there’s nothing like hawking a good loogie now and then.

10. Staring

It’s just not seen as that rude here.  It used to really annoy me when people actually stopped what they were doing to stare at me when I walked by.  For a while, it really pissed me off.  Now it just bothers me sometimes.

It’s not just foreigners that get the crazy-eye treatment either.  I was in Dalian’s Discovery Kingdom recently with a gorgeous Chinese girl.  I assumed that people would be staring at me since it’s a touristy place and those are usually the places that have the most turned heads because the people aren’t usually from big cities with lots of foreigners.  But people, both men and women, used the same stop-and-stare technique on her and she didn’t even notice!  It made me think, “maybe people aren’t staring at me because I’m foreign.  Maybe I’m just unbelievably hot.”  Thanks for the confidence boost (and beer), Dalian!

11. Same sex physical affection

I know I’m not the only person that came to China and saw all these guys hanging on each other and girls holding hands and thought “Holy crap, there are so many gay people here!” …Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  It took some time to learn that Chinese people of the same sex are way more touchy-feely than North Americans.

The constant need for girls to hold hands can be tedious, though.  Especially when you’re running late for class and the three girls walking up the stairs in front of you insist on all holding hands, creating a cute, yet obscenely annoying, barricade.  I once saw four girls on bikes attempt to hold hands with each other to the point that half of them were in oncoming traffic.  I guess their need to touch each other overpowered their need to not be hit by a car.

12. Littering

A lot of people throw a lot of crap on the ground and out their car windows and it sucks.  I have no idea how a people who are generally so patriotic can not care about making their country look shitty.  The creek near my campus is filled with bottles and trash and bags.  Even at Chinese zoos, people throw their rubbish into the animal cages.

It seems like it would be an easy fix too.  Just have some PSAs with some famous dudes saying “If you love China, throw your crap in a trash can”  Then have video of Mao crying on the side of the road because someone threw a food container out of his car.  It’s done.  No more littering.

13. Ghosts

A Chinese friend of mine once told me about a building in her hometown that had to be demolished because a few people died during its construction.  It turns out that despite the fact that this was some new, architecturally interesting, multi-million yuan business center, no one would buy space in it because they thought it was haunted by the ghosts of the construction workers.  The developer was forced to tear down the building and build the exact same structure on the exact same site.  I’ve also been told by multiple Chinese coworkers that many Chinese people would refuse to buy a previously owned apartment on the off-chance that the prior resident died in it.

If I come back to China, I plan to go into the ghostbusting business.  I bet I could make a ton of money as long as my colleagues and I don’t cross the streams (or do, depending on the evilness and power of the ghost at hand).  I’ll probably end up re-animating one of those Mao statues to fight off a bunch of demonic Terracotta warriors.

1. Making friends with people I’d have nothing to do with back home

I live in Shenyang, it’s not exactly overflowing with expats like Beijing or Shanghai, so I really can’t be choosey when it comes to hanging out with fellow interlopers.  The people I hang out with here are definitely not the same kind of people I’d choose to hang out with if I was in America, in fact, I’d go out of my way to not talk to (and probably make fun of) them.  There are so many people that I’ve met that look like total douchebags (by my own standards) that are super nice and totally cool.  China has made me realize what a total asshole I am when I superficially judge people in America (though it’s not like I plan to change any time soon).

2. The world is your bathroom

I went to a pretty big party school (let’s gooooo Mountaineers) so it’s not like I’ve never seen anyone peeing in public before.  My friend Ryan once told me that he never touched anything on our campus because someone else has probably pissed on it, including him (this is a dude that drunkenly relieved himself on the total gym in our living room at one point).  But Chinese people really have no shame when it comes time to pee.  I see people, even women, pissing all the time, practically everywhere.  And I’m not going to lie, I’ve done it more than a few times after I’ve been drinking or in the woods but never in the street at mid-day.  I guess many people are just brought up like that.  Most kids don’t seem to have diapers, just some pants with a slit from the crotch to the top of the butt and parents just let them go, almost wherever they please.  When I first saw 2 Girls 1 Cup, I told myself “Well, this has got to be the one and only time I will see poop being dispensed by a butt hole.”  I was so wrong.

3. KTV

Where I’m from, karaoke is just a one-night-of-the-week thing that some bars have, it’s not the thing to do all the time.  So when I came to China, the sheer number of KTV joints and the amount of people that absolutely love going to them totally surprised me.  I even get totally confused looks when I tell people I don’t like to sing.  That said, I love a good night out at KTV, though my friends who have to listen to me sing probably have a different opinion.

3a. English KTV songs

I also had no idea there were so many English songs that were internationally popular, yet were never hits in the US.  Even if a pop song isn’t number 1 in The States, I figured I’d at least be aware of it, I used to work for a music magazine, after all.  ”Big Big World” by Emilia is a good example.  Before I came to China, I had never heard that song.  Now it’s one of my go-to jams when I sing at KTV.  Also, who knew Westlife was so popular?  Not me.  Did you know they covered “More Than Words” by Extreme?  Every time I see the song on the list, I queue it up, only to be disappointed by some lame pop version, instead of the awesome, original, hair-metal version.

4. The NBA

When young Chinese guys ask me about the NBA, they’re always surprised and confused when I say I don’t follow it.  I mean, I know who Michael Jordan is, but other than the fact that Magic Johnson has AIDS and Yao Ming is Chinese, my b-ball knowledge is limited to NBA Jam for Sega Genesis (and I always played as Will Smith).  But dudes love basketball here.  It was surprising to learn that a country of people who are stereotyped for being so short would love a sport that is traditionally reserved for the tallest dudes and Muggsy Bogues (he’s on NBA Jam).

5. Rice is essential

I see rice as a filler.  It’s like bread at an Italian restaurant, it’s good, but the main course is much better.  There are so many great Chinese dishes and when you eat out, you always order a ton of food.  Why fill yourself with rice when you could be eating something that actually has a taste?  I’ve eaten with Chinese people that have actually gotten angry and refused to eat because the rice isn’t there yet, despite the fact that all the real dishes are already on the table.  This is something I don’t think I’ll ever wrap my head around.

6. Train toilets

There’s something about the sound of the train tracks speeding by that really inhibits my bodily functions.  I know it’s safe, but there’s something about standing or squatting over what is essentially an open whole in the floor going at 120km/hr over gravel that makes me uneasy.  I always invision a rock bouncing up and colliding with a place that no rock should I’ve collide.

China will be producing 6.3 million graduates this year. Figures from 2009 indicate 13% of last years 6.1 million graduates were unable to find a job. That’s 793,000 graduates without a job.

We take a look at the harsh reality of fresh graduates hunting for jobs in Beijing and the rising standard of living in China’s growing metropolitan city.

NOTE: It’s been available for months, but for some reason I neglected to mention it here that while Danwei.org is blocked, Danwei.tv (a mirror) is not.

The service is strictly PPTP and not SSL, which I suppose is both a pro and a con. From my experience PPTP is faster and easier to setup as services go, but is easier to get blocked.

And blocked I think is exactly what happened with the initial setup I was using with the service. ibVPN allows you to use various different gateways (3 US, 2 UK, 1 DE and 1 NL). I slapped the first US gateway into my settings and tried to connect — no go. Not a great start for my review. Not easily dissuaded, especially when the reward is funny cat videos, I gave the second US gateway a try — worked great.

Youtube videos were loading decently fast, and I could login to Facebook and Twitter no problem and with no noticeable VPN lag. After a few days though, I suddenly started getting this error on Facebook. So, with one gateway completely inaccessible, and the other gateway’s IP being blocked by Facebook, I loaded up the third and final US gateway. Fortunately it’s been working a treat for the last few days, with no problems at all.

Here is some speed data done by pinging the referenced sites with the VPN on and off:

So, as you can see, decently fast (I generally consider anything that pings between 200-300 “fast enough” when dealing with sites hosted, literally, overseas). My final tests were the ones that are most important to me when it comes to make or break for a VPN — how fast does Youtube stream?

I tested three Youtube videos of varying lengths to get a sense of the streaming speed, and tested them at 11am (+8 GMT) and again at 10pm (+8 GMT). Here are the results:

@ 11am:
This 48sec video, this 1:21 sec video, and this 22 min all streamed fine with no need to perform the “pause-wait shuffle”.

@ 10pm:
All three videos loaded at about the same rate, but were noticeably slower than when accessed in the morning. They could not be streamed, and had to be paused to allow a bit of time for them to load. Not a lot of time mind you, but still, not the fluid streaming I had seen earlier in the day.

Pricing

ibVPN’s pricing is about on par with the industry, and if anything a bit cheaper than some of the other VPNs I’ve looked at — likely due to the fact that they only offer PPTP. For access to either the US- or UK-based gateways, it will set you back about $20 USD for half a year, and they throw in the Netherlands gateway for free. For an additional $17 you can have access to all the gateways (US, UK, DE and NL).

Overall

Generally a decent service at a decent price. I’m a little nervous about the inaccessibility of the first US gateway, and Facebook’s blocking of the second’s IP, but results are results and as it stands at the time of this review, I am able to quickly and easily get on all the sites and have them operate with satisfactory, or better than satisfactory results.

Another bonus is that they offer monthly, quarterly and semi-annually payment options — which makes it the perfect service for anyone visiting China in the short-term for travel, teaching ESL or a business trip.

NOTE: The links in the review are all clean, non-affiliate links. However, if you decide to sign up and give ibVPN a try yourself, we’d love for you to show your support of Lost Laowai and use our affiliate link. It costs you nothing, and helps us keep the lights on.

The concept is simple — have a question about China, post the question, get answers from fellow China expats and travellers. Just a lil’ laowai helping laowai love. A two-way street where expats can gain and share knowledge about living, working and playing in this crazy country we call home (even if for some that’s only temporary).

I developed Laowai Answers to replace the long derelict Lost Laowai forums. Shortly after the redesign at the start of this year I began working on shaping up the forums’ layout and thinking about how I wanted them to operate. But lets face it, there are already a whole lot of fantastic China expat forums out there full of rants, flames and trolls. I kept hitting a wall, as I couldn’t see how Lost Laowai could add any real value to that. That got me thinking about why I use forums myself.

What I came to was the realization that while every once in a while I’ll read through a 6 page thread on why such-and-such (or so-and-so) sucks, the real value for me from a BBS is almost 100% when I’m looking for answers to things — whether that’s in designer/coding forums, on travel BBSes, city forums or any other special interest communities I hit up in the average week. And so I decided that if I was going to put the effort into having some sort of forum-like function on Lost Laowai, I wanted to structure it in a way that was constructive and informative to its core.

And thus we have Laowai Answers.

Not everything is finalized, and I’m still adding features and working out some bugs — both of which I hope you’ll help me with. However, it’s finished enough that I’d like to invite you all to go have a look — ask a question, answer some questions or just send me some feedback.

And before I get dinged in the comments about this, I’d like to give some love to Shanghai Solved — a Shanghai-focused site very similar in nature to what we’re doing with Laowai Answers. I was well into development of Laowai Answers before I stumbled upon their site, which looks great (in spite of the prominent Haibao ). And while they’re targeting Shanghai expatriate life, and we’re nationally-focused, there’s certainly some overlap. That said, my feeling is when it comes to getting answers to questions about China, I don’t think there can be too many places for people to seek information.

And so please, go check out Laowai Answers, help us test it and flesh it out with some answers to questions already on there, and by adding a few of your own. And, perhaps most importantly, let me know your thoughts and suggestions on how to make it as useful as can be.

My guest today is Katherine, better known around here as Baoru.  You can read her work on CNReviews where she posts a great deal about life in the Middle Kingdom.  Quite recently her informative posts on the Shanghai Expo have received a great deal of web traffic, and for obvious reasons.  She also writes a blog in Expotia, the Official Hotel Reservation Service Provider of Expo 2010.  If that wasn’t enough, depending on your perspective, she is either lucky or brave enough to be a volunteer at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Looking at my guests resume, the topic seems rather obvious to me.  We will be talking about the biggest event to currently be underway in China, the Shanghai Expo.  We will be tackling issues like lines, toilets, and our favourite pavilions, so join us for Fact or Fiction 8:  Hey Ho, Expo!

1.  The lines are far too long at the Shanghai Expo.

Glen: FICTION

This is by far the biggest complaint that I’ve heard so far from people about the Expo.  However, most of what I’ve noticed is that most of the griping is from people who haven’t even been to the Expo!  Most of the lines there really aren’t that bad.  Sure the German, Korean, and American Pavilions have terrifying long lines, but there are plenty of other ones that don’t have it that bad.  I think that you just need to be smart about which ones you choose and it won’t be too bad.

Katherine: FICTION

Everyone is really making exaggerated remarks on that one. [I am sometimes guilty of this too!] And the old ladies and grand pops bringing in the colorful, foldable chairs are not helping. I bet the distributor of those chairs is making a killing at this point in time! I may be biased because I get fast pass access to a few pavilions (due to my status as a volunteer), but I also waited for a friend while I was inside the Expo Garden already. And when I visit the Expo with someone else, I also need to line up. It was not that long a wait. Try the Urban Best Practices Area in Puxi and the corporate pavilions there also. Sometimes you do not even need to line up to get in.

They are off to a great start!  Looks like they are not in the mob of people that are upset with the mobs of people.  1 for 1.

2.  The UK Pavillion has the best design of the Pavilions.

Great Pavilion or Greatest Pavilion?

Glen: FACT

It’s certainly the weirdest one there! It looks like some sort of alien spore coming to take over the planet, and I for one like that in a building.  It is extra cool from the inside where you can see the light coming in through all of the plastic tubes.  I highly recommend it to anyone going to the Expo, lines or not.

Katherine: FICTION

The UK Pavilion looks cool definitely, but it is not the best in design for me. Even if it is a must-see pavilion. I agree with you though that it looks alien spore-ish. They got my vote for being innovative in design. But best design for me is the China Pavilion. It’s so Chinese and so unique at the same time. The inverted pyramid, strong red color, and grand staircase leading to the top got me.

Almost all the way in agreement, but not quite.  1 for 2.

3.  The Theme Pavilions are the best ones to visit.

Glen: FACT

I said this in my post a few months ago about the Expo and my mind certainly hasn’t changed since then.  I only went to the Urbanian Pavilion and the Pavilion of the Future, but they were both fantastic!  There is a lot of cool information in there presented in a very interesting fashion.  Sure you need to book times, but it’s so worth it and they are most certainly very different than all of the other pavilions that you find.

Katherine: FACT

If it were not for the fact that the Expo Garden is a bit far from our place, I could go back to the Theme Pavilions again and again and just stay there absorbing all the neat information inside. Everyone is talking about the country pavilions like how many pavilions they got into. Not so many are making it a point to check out the Theme Pavilions. There are 3 in Pudong side and 2 in Puxi, and all of them are worth the visit.

And we’re back on track…2 for 3.  Let’s switch it up to get more interesting.

4.  There are enough restaurants and toilets at the Expo.

Katherine: FACT.

Ask me again during the first few weeks of the Expo opening, and I would have given you a different answer. These days, I think everyone is able to use the washrooms without need of lining up (both squat and Western-style). Though the ayi’s have to work double time, because some people are just darn unhygienic when it comes to the toilets. But when you gotta go, you gotta go. Heh. About eating, avoid the known fast foods; and be adventurous when trying out what to eat! There are affordable eats inside the Expo Garden. ICS EXPO 360 host Steven Weathers shared his personal tips with CNReviews on international treats and coffee at the Expo.  You could check out his Expo videos in Expotia as well!

Glen: FACT

I never had huge problems going to the toilet, and surprisingly I rarely had to wait a long time for my girlfriend to use it!  The toilets are well spaced, clean, and plentiful, so you can’t really complain there.  Food can be a bit of a challenge, but if you are smart, then you either a) bought food, or b) ate in the pavilions.  There are little to no lines at the restaurants inside the pavilions, so if you time your visits around food then you’re fine.  Try the Sri Lanka and Nepal pavilions for the best food that I found.

Good, toilets are a mess thing to disagree over…3 for 4.

5. The Shanghai World Expo can be considered a success.

Katherine: FACT.

For me, the Shanghai World Expo is all about people understanding other cultures, especially for the local Chinese. If you cannot go out-of-the-country, the Expo is a good way to expose yourself to other cultures and traditions. And this is not just by visiting the different pavilions. I think interacting with the people involved is a good way to get glimpses also.

Glen: FACT

I completely agree with you on this one.  I think that this event is going a long way to building a bit of a world view for locals who have been closed off for a long time.  Sure it may be a little Disneyesque at points, but it certainly is better than nothing.  Also, the amount of money that is being brought in to the region is fantastic, and hopefully it will have a long term positive effect on tourism and international business in and around Shanghai.  Lastly, the physical improvements made to the city cannot be understated.  Sure, a year ago Shanghai looked like a war zone with all of the dust and cranes everywhere, but now it is sparkling and brand new.

Solid agreement here.  Anyone think that these two may be the same person?  4 for 5.

Oh crap…the rules have changed!

6.  SPECIAL NEW RULES FACT OR FICTION TOPIC:  List your 5 favourite Pavilions at the Expo.

Katherine:

1. China Pavilion
2. Urbanian Pavilion (one of the Theme Pavilions) – This pavilion follows the lives of 6 families from the different continents around the world. I like this, because you get to know and see for yourself how people live and work in their part of the world. And the exhibits are just awesome!
3. Philippine Pavilion – Ok, I am biased here; because I am from the Philippines. Hehe. But seriously, our country is not that known in other parts of the world; and I think the pavilion gave justice showing what you can see in the Philippines. There is traditional massage and different genres of music and entertainment to suit your taste. If you want to know more about the Philippines, our pavilion guides are very knowledgeable (and they are the friendliest there is!).
4. USA Pavilion – Not sure if many will agree with me here. But I like the USA Pavilion, because of the content (even if they are just movies). I am all for idealism and children as the hopes of the future, so the USA Pavilion gets my vote.
5. Shanghai Corporate Pavilion – You can control the lights showing on the facade of the pavilion through group effort by the people inside. The message is simple and clear and geared towards the development of Shanghai. I mentioned my weakness for idealism, so with this pavilion–just how idealistic can you get? They might be pulling our leg with the lights control thing, but it still looks cool.

Glen:
(Note:  I only included Pavilions that I have been to so several big ones like Japan, Germany, and China are omitted.  Apologies all)

1. Urbanian Pavilion -  When I try to explain it to people I can’t seem to do it justice.  Six Families from around the world are followed in all aspects of their lives and the result is pure awesome.
2. UK Pavilion -  As I said earlier, it has a great design from the outside, and it is borderline surreal from the inside.  Well worth the wait.
3. Australia Pavilion -  I love the layout and design of this one.  The movie at the end is so cool, even if it is all in Chinese (that is their national language, right?).  Maybe I give it extra credit because it was the first one that I went to and my two hilarious Aussie friends gave me the “guided tour”, but I still think that anyone would love it.
4. USA Pavilion – I’m with Katherine on this one.  I know a lot of people didn’t like it, but I thought it was great.  The second movie is a little boring, but the first and third are great.  I think that it captured the idealism of the American spirit.
5. Morocco Pavilion -  This one is very simple but very beautiful.  After seeing alien spores, giant apples, and other weird things, it is refreshing to see a pavilion built in traditional architecture for the country with simple facts and figures about it.  This pavilion serves as an actual exposition.

I have no idea how to judge this one, but they had a few in common so let’s count that as partial agreement.  4.5 for 6, making this the most harmonious edition ever!

For Katherine, I’m Glen, thanks for reading!  We hope that you all enjoy the Expo while you still can.  As always, we welcome comments/concerns/criticisms.  Let us have it