It's Expo for kids

Students from Pinglu Primary School in Shanghai join a class on water conservation inside the Switzerland Pavilion. [PEI XING / XINHUA]

Similarly, the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, the second most popular pavilion in the Expo Garden, offers visitors a flight over the treasures of Saudi Arabia. Using immersion screen technology, it's projected on a 1,600-square-meter screen, one of the world's largest. Guests will be able to experience the magnificent beauty of the country and see many of the country's natural and cultural treasures.

"My son is so fond of exploring diverse cultures in overseas countries. Expo 2010 Shanghai gathers a variety of innovations and technologies which will influence and educate children," said Zhu Qinggong, who came to the Expo from Shandong province with his 11-year-old child.

Other national pavilions, including the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Norway, have also prepared kid's performances and events.

On the Puxi side, there are many corporate pavilions and individual or joint case pavilions. Instead of focusing on culture, this area demonstrates how technologies have or will change people's daily lives and the importance of the environment.

"I want my son to see the features of the future world in the Expo Garden," said Zhang Yanhong, a 37-year old woman from Anhui. "Puxi is more attractive and has a lot of stuff, such as the 4D films."

The Vanke Pavilion is popular with its cinema complete with specially designed chairs that automatically lie down and lift during the movie. Visitors can see a movie promoting the concept of environment protection from different angles.

"I like it very much, that chair is so smart," said Li Ziqian, an 11-year-old boy. "It is very cool."

"We tried to explain to him about the ideas told in the movie, but seems it is a bit difficult for him to understand," said Huang Huiling, his mother. "But at least he saw those concepts in pictures, it is much better than reading it to him from a book."

At the Abilia experience center, children aged from 7 to 15 can chose one of more than 30 jobs, such as chef, police, photographer and banker, to learn how to cooperate with each other in order to complete their work.

"My daughter always says she wants to be a photographer when she grows up, so we reserved that career when we entered the pavilion," said Xu Wenping, who has visited the Expo Garden twice with her daughter. "I don't know what photographers usually do, but this way she can experience it by herself - it is great."

"I like to take pictures of people. It is nice to record the most memorable times of our life," said Wang Jingying, Xu's daughter.

Special events are also planned at Abilia experience center for Children's Day. The center will organize five different performances, including poetry readings, and stage performances. A charity sale will be held and money raised will be used to buy Expo tickets for poor children.

For more educational experiences, at the nearby China State Shipbuilding Corporate (CSSC) Pavilion, Hu Yuexiang, a captain with the China Shipping (Group) Company, tells stories of his sea adventures and teaches children about sailing.

A parade of cartoon mascots of each pavilion is held three times a day on the Puxi side of the Expo Garden, from 10:30am to 11:15am; 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm; and 6:30pm to 7:15pm. Participants include Coca-Cola, Aurora, CSSC and some national pavilions, including Norway.

The three mascots from the State Grid Pavilion, Ampere, Volt and Ohm will make their first public appearances playing games with kids. Gifts will also be given out. Kids with two accompanied adults are allowed to enter the pavilion through a special entry during certain periods of the day.