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Expo 2010 Shanghai raised its curtains for the world on Friday with a dazzling display of sight and sound. President Hu Jintao declared the opening of an extravaganza with performances and fireworks that highlighted China's growing confidence from rising economic clout and its increasing openness in the international community. The opening marked the first time for a developing country to hold the World Expo in its 159 years of history. The Expo will usher in new ways of life and help promote harmony among mankind, cities and nature, Vice-Premier
Wang Qishan said at the opening ceremony held in the futuristic, UFO-shaped Expo Cultural Center.
Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE) President Jean-Pierre Lafon said he hopes the Expo will contribute to a social awakening, so that cities may become more sustainable, fairer, safer and more harmonious.
The country's financial capital, playing host to China's biggest international event after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, was bathed in celebration. Neon lights illuminated the 3.5-km stretch of Shanghai's riverfront at The Bund.
The star-studded indoor festivities included action star Jackie Chan, Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura, concert pianist Lang Lang and opera star Andrea Bocelli, among 2,300 performers.
The evening also featured the largest outdoor multimedia laser display over the city's Huangpu River.
A water fantasia featured a 250-meter-wide dancing fountain with jets as high as 80 meters.
The river waters glowed with 6,000 red and yellow, 0.5-meter-large LED balls and lights, as an aquatic parade of 200 flag boats sailed along the river, representing nations and regions participating in the Expo.
"This is the first time a World Expo is hosting an opening ceremony of this scale," said David Atkins, CEO of David Atkins Enterprises, artistic director for the event.
The Expo, which aims to showcase the latest technology and inventions, attracted a record of 189 countries and 57 international organizations, including 22 nations without diplomatic relations with China.
Almost all African countries, which rarely showed up at previous expos, are gathering in Shanghai.
The Expo's theme of "Better City, Better Life" was displayed all over a rapidly expanding Shanghai.
"We should not see the Expo as just a huge exhibition. It is also a process of exchanging ideas and integration," said Professor Cai Jianguo, dean of the International Cultural Exchange College of Shanghai-based Tongji University.
The event is a way to inspire ideas that light the way to a better future, he said.
To keep up with green concepts of the times, the main Expo site, which spans 5.3 sq km across both sides of the Huangpu, has been designed to be environmentally friendly. Most of the materials used to construct the innovative national or regional pavilions will be recycled.
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