2010 World Expo is coming! It will be hosted in the vibrant city of Shanghai from May 1 to October 31, 2010. The theme of the 2010 Expo is “Better City, Better Life,” in Shanghai Expo you will explore future urban environments with your imagination. Shanghai 2010 Expo will take place in the center of Shanghai in a massive 5 square kilometer (2 square miles) site, along both sides of the Huangpu River.

Over 200 national and other pavilions will be represented, with 70 million visitors expected, making Shanghai 2010 World Expo a real global event focused on exchanging ideas in science, technology and culture. Travelers and visitors will be treated to fabulous architecture—from the Chinese pavilion’s traditional red, wooden inverted-pyramid design to the Swiss pavilion’s revolving chair lift system and the United Arab Emirates’ sand-dune concept.

In 2010 Expo, each pavilion will showcase actual cultural treasures on site, such as Denmark’s Little Mermaid statue and Finland’s saunas. Exhibits will be tied into theme of urbanization, including showcasing technology to combat global warming and bicycles for a greener urban lifestyle. Visitors will also get to sample the participating countries’ food, fashion and cultural entertainment, with more than 20,000 events planned for the 6-month period.

Admission tickets are required for all visitors. All together, there are nine types of tickets covering individuals and groups, including Peak Day tickets, when the largest crowds are expected (Peak Days include the Labor Day holiday from May 1-3, National Day holiday from Oct. 1-7 and the last week of the Expo, Oct. 25-31).

Baise – the city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is noted as a place of history – from both a very long time ago and modern China.

Picturesque scenery in Baise's Jiuzhou township. -Photo: China Daily

Discovery of a Paleolithic Age hand ax in some 800,000 years ago in Baise in 1970s surprised anthropologists and rewrote the history of human civilization in Asia.

About 80 years ago, the Chinese Seventh Army was establishing a revolutionary base and Soviet regime in Baise along the Youjiang River.

On Dec 11, 1929, Deng Xiaoping and other revolutionaries launched the Baise Uprising, among the earliest battles in the fight against the ruling Kuomintang.

Here is a China travelogue by puddleduck2 – one of China Holidays’ customers, posted at http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=85325&start=0.

We booked via China Holidays in London – http://www.chinaholidays.com. They offer a range of services, including land only servcies if you want to book your own hotels and flights etc or, like we had, a tailor made package, where you give your main points of interest, choice of hotel etc and they organise it all. A guide met us at the airport in every city (except HK) and there was only them, the driver and me and Marcus. It certainly took the stress out of it and we got a really personally service minus the tour group.

Hi, we are back. Here’s the first instalment, more to follow (I hope it’s not too long)

Day 1 Beijing We arrive into a hot and humid Beijing at 10am local time on the 10th of September. We are shattered after our flight as it’s still the middle of the night to us. Frank (the Westernisation for his name he tells us), our guide for the few days we will spend in the city, meets us at the airport and takes us to our car and driver. One of the first things we noticed about Beijing is the slight “fog” from all the pollution. The second thing is the crazy drivers. It appears that you can drive where you want it’s almost eye wateringly bad with cars, buses, taxis, scooters and people all vying for the same spot. Thankfully we arrive at our hotel (the Marco Polo) in one piece and check in. After a wait of around 35 minutes we are allocated our room (which isn’t bad considering check time isn’t until 2pm), unpack and have a brief rest before being taken to the Temple of Heaven in the afternoon. The main temple building there (Hall for the Prayer of Good Harvests) is quite simply a marvel it’s made entirely of wood and not a single nail has been used. The colours are vivid. Back to the hotel for a rest before dinner and an early night I think we were in bed for 8.30pm!