After weeks, maybe months, of dithering, I finally bit the bullet. I took the wife and daughter to Expo Sunday evening. I thought Sunday evenings should afford less people. Wrong! Wrong at least in this case. It’s possible a lot of people, like me, considered this weekend their last good chance to go before the start of school. A friend who works there told me half a million people chose Sunday to attend.
Right from the start I knew the evening would be a disaster. Quicker than you can say 丰富， my spouse popped a strategic button on her pants. A woman in this situation often does not take kindly to good-natured ribbing, I can tell you. It is not possible to take water into the Expo, so the first order of business after entering the park was to find refreshment for the ten-year-old daughter. And it was hot. The heat index of 35 degrees lasted past ten o’clock.
As I said, it was crowded. There were long lines for the popular pavilions, like Germany’s, even after nine o’clock. We skated through lines for some pavilions, such as Chile’s, in five minutes or less. I scored some Chilean wine. I drank a Cuba Libre at the Cuban Pavilion next door, but passed on the chance to puff a 300 rmb cigar (illegal for Americans, you know). We enjoyed a meat pie at Porterhouse, the Irish pub.
You couldn’t pay me enough money to return for another visit. Well, maybe if someone splurged for VIP tour treatment. Otherwise, the whole concept is a non-starter, for the simple reason there are just too many people.