Great expectations for next World Expo 

Source: ONE NewsTradesmen work on the site of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai

The World Expo in Shanghai is already being billed as the equivalent of the Olympics for China in 2010.

And, around Shanghai the same pattern is emerging.

A fanatical amount of beautification is taking place in the city alongside public campaigns to encourage good behaviour (politeness, no spitting etc.), as well as an effort to improve the quality and quantity of English signs.

Locals have had to put up with their city being one huge construction zone for the best part of five years, but they will tell you that it is all worth it.

The expo site is located on the west side of the city and is about a half-hour drive from downtown Shanghai.

It was as vast as you would expect (over five square kilometres), it is no surprise that the Chinese pavilion dominates the skyline from miles away.

Of the approximately 220 countries represented at the expo, about 60 are building their own pavilion with the rest being housed in the giant hall or taking the option of purchasing a kitset pavilion.

There were plots of 2,000, 4,000 and 6,000 square metres available and New Zealand has opted for the smallest.

Progress is well under way on the New Zealand structure, but as project manager Chris Bicknell says, there is still a lot more to be done.

"The challenge - and everyone faces the same challenge - is that you want to have something uniquely New Zealand. There is no point in coming to an expo and building a Chinese-designed building. You may as well not come," he says.

Bricknell says the design of New Zealand's pavilion is unique, and he says there have been headaches trying to dovetail the New Zealand design and concepts into Chinese construction limitations and regulations, as well as the World Expo 2010 regulations.

Bicknell says there has been a lot of extra work to maintain the New Zealand look and feel but he has no doubts it will all be worth it.

"It will be a piece of New Zealand here in Shanghai - it is a little bit special."

The 2010 Expo is expected to attract a record number of visitors - but what will make the New Zealand pavilion stand out from the rest?

"The design team is really going for the heart. They are not going for the visual aesthetics, more when the visitors leave they take a feeling."

The Shanghai World Expo will run from May 1 to September 2010.