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Construction workers install guard walls at the park area in the Expo Garden on Wednesday. Construction for the 5.28-square-km venue is set to wrap up by the end of this month. CHENG QIANJUN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Construction workers sorry to leave Expo site

SHANGHAI - As the country counts down to the May 1 opening of the Shanghai World Expo, Wang Hongcai is counting his last days at the site of the mega event.

Wang and scores of other construction workers who are giving the final touches to the Expo Garden will soon have to pack up and leave, as construction for the 5.28-square-km venue is set to wrap up by the end of this month.

But Wang is a little reluctant to leave.

"I've been working here for more than two years, the longest I have ever spent at a construction site," said the 60-year-old migrant worker from Xuzhou, Jiangsu province.

"Seeing the Expo Garden turning from nothing into such a spectacle right in front of my eyes has been the most remarkable experience of my life." said Wang, sitting on the steps of the dome-shaped Performance Center.

Although a few selected construction workers have been allowed to visit the Expo free of cost during test runs, Wang is not among them.

But he isn't sad. Like most of his colleagues, he has already seen most of the pavilions.

"I never expected to see so many interesting buildings and exhibitions from around the world in my whole life. It's like I've been traveling around the world. Shouldn't I be grateful?"

He said the most impressive sight at the Expo Garden is the China pavilion, which is "beyond imagination" and "the pride of every Chinese".

And seeing millions of visitors flocking to the Expo Garden during the trial run, which enters its third day on Thursday, and hearing them shower praises is a compliment for Wang and some 10,000 construction workers like him.

The only thing Wang regrets is that he won't be able to pay for his family to come to the spectacle he and his colleagues have created.

The Expo ticket, sold at a benchmark price of 160 yuan each, is still "a little expensive" for the likes of Wang, who earns a little more than 2,000 yuan a month, most of which has to be sent back to his wife and grandchild in the countryside.

"I really wish I could bring my grandchild to see the Expo. It will be a rare chance to open his eyes and experience the world," he said. What underlies Wang's wish is a long-cherished dream that his grandchild would not - like his grandfather and father - end up as a construction worker.

"He has the potential for more enterprising undertakings. The Expo might be a good beginning to set him off on a better path," he said.

"So I'll work harder to earn more money. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring him here before the Expo ends."

China Daily

(China Daily 04/22/2010 page6)