China Pavilion draws

The China Pavilion has become so popular Expo visitors who want to experience it will need a reservation ticket first.

All reservation tickets offered daily are also snapped up within minutes of the Expo Garden opening.

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Responding to visitors' queries, an official from the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination said every Expo ticket holder can get one reservation ticket at the entrance to the Expo Garden from Expo staff, but Expo staff, journalists, officials and others entering the Expo Garden without an Expo ticket cannot get China Pavilion reservation tickets.

One-third of the reservations tickets are available to group visitors and the remaining two-thirds are given to individual visitors. The pavilion usually decides the number of reservation tickets given out daily one day in advance, according to its capacity.

Using Friday's numbers as an example, the official said there were about 370 staff handing out tickets at 13 entrances at 9 am. A total of 28,600 tickets were given out in five minutes and each staff could give no more than 80 tickets.

Ticket spots

Tickets to Expo 2010 Shanghai can now be purchased at supermarkets, convenience stores and outlets that sell train tickets, organizers said on Monday in the latest endeavor to attract more visitors to the event.

Visitors can log on to www.expo2010.cn for detailed information about the location of the new ticket outlets.

Previously, authorized Expo ticket agents were China Mobile, China Telecom, Bank of Communications, China Post and some travel agencies.

Air quality index

A real-time air quality monitoring and forecasting system was launched in the city on Monday to make information about air quality more readily available to visitors of Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Visitors can access www.-semc.gov.cn/expoair for the Air Pollutant Index in the Expo Garden. The website also offers a 24-hour forecast of the air quality.

Cheaper eats

More effort will be made to remedy an insufficient supply, high prices and uneven distribution of food and beverages in the Expo Garden, officials said on Monday.

Corrective measures include adding more temporary food stores, encouraging takeouts from restaurants, ensuring efficient delivery of goods and lowering the cost of food in the garden. About 100 food suppliers are running 130 restaurants in the Expo Garden. By Saturday night, a week after the Expo officially opened, 1.7 million people dined in the Expo Garden.