scene of the exhibition

Organisers today embraced the 1,000-day countdown of World Expo Shanghai 2010 with a series of celebration events, including launching a tour exhibition nationwide to showcase city's expectations toward the event.

Shanghai is the first stop of the tour. The exhibition will also go to five cities -- Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou in 2007.

The tour exhibition is very important for Shanghai to enlarge the Expo effect and stir up the passion of Chinese people in participating in the Expo, said Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng during the opening ceremony held at Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center.

Shanghai Party chief Xi Jinpin pressed the button and launched the exhibition -- "The Path to World Expo -- Retrospection of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China."

It is the biggest media promotion since Shanghai won the bid of hosting the event in 2002, organisers, said Liu Xiuhua, assistant director of Media Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

The organisers even regard it a "small rehearsal" for the 2010's event, aiming to enhance public's recognition of the Expo. "We hired professional companies to do the planning and fitting," said Liu.

"We are trying to get experiences from every possible opportunity, and then we can deal with the problems we meet in the real Expo."

Though the Expo is still about three years away, most of the planning hasn't even been written on actual blueprint, organisers has figured out ways to make the abstract imaginations into concrete displays.

"Visual elements are very important," Liu said. "This is the way we transfer all the concept of the event to the audience."

For instance, a path in front of the exhibition hall is made of four materials -- tiling, cobblestones, cement and bitumen -- which indicated the evolution of cities' roads and lead you from the past to the current Shanghai Expo.

Organisers infused multiple ideas in the exhibition, making it an interesting tour and experience rather than a hall filled with exhibition boards.

The exhibition includes a 200-square-meter outside landscape on the grassland, a 1,200 square-meter indoor display, and even an online section of to present a diverse show without the barrier of space.

Highlight 1 Multimedia display

Multimedia technology is the highlight of the exhibition. Five interesting exhibits are distributed in the three sections of the event -- Shanghai Expo, China and World Expo, the History of World Expos.

Two small cinemas, including one surrounded by a 180 degree screen, display the promotional videos of Shanghai Expo and a video of World Expo's history.

"The movie really gave you a feeling that you are in the scene. It's very different from ordinary movies, even large screen movies," said a reporter surnamed Wang during the preview tour of the exhibition provided by the organisers.

Another interesting installation in the "China and World Expo" section allows you reading a virtual book which is projected on a stone, and you can even turn the pages by simulating the action. The installation was debuted in the UK Pavilion in Aichi 2005.

Highlight 2 precious exhibits

World Expos, debuted in 1851 in London, have accompanied the world from industrialisation boom into information era.

Most of the inventions debuted on the World Expos have penetrated people's daily life, from great inventions of Thomas Edison -- light bulb, telegraph and gramophone, to some small common stuff, such as elevator, hotdog and zip.

The exhibition not only shows a precious oil painting which records the scene of China's participation at the first World Expo in London, but also exhibit many real original objects of historic inventions around the world.

The first camera of Kodak, and the telephone made by Alexander Bell are displayed. If you pick up the phone, you can hear the first word transferred by wire, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you."

Highlight 3 online tour

Besides going to the entity exhibition, the official Website of the Expo gave the public another choice -- watch the exhibition online.

Like the Shanghai Expo will have the first-ever online Expo, organisers also moved all the text introductions, photos and videos in this exhibition to the Website -- http://expo1000.eastday.com/index.htm.