Shanghaihasbeenoneofthemaincityenvisionedtohosttheexposforsometime.Manyscholarshavewrittenaboutthepossibilityandmadesuggestionsinbooks.UnofficialparticipationinfairsoutsideChinahavehappenedsince1851.In1910theQingdynastydecidedtohostChina'sfirstfairwiththe1910Nanyangindustrialexposition.[5]Thoughmostareverysmallscalecomparedtothemodern2010expo.
ThesiteoftheeventistheNanpuBridge–LupuBridgeregioninthecenterofShanghaialongbothsidesoftheHuangpuRiver.TheareaoftheExpo2010covers5.28km2.[2]
AfterwinningthebidtohosttheExpoin2002,Shanghaibeganamonumentaltasktoreshapethecity.MorethanAU$48billion[7]wasspentforthepreparation,morethanthecostofcleaningupBeijinginthepreparationsfortheOlympicsin2008.Shanghaibeganclearing2.6squarekilometresalongtheHuangpuRiver;thatinvolvedmoving18,000familiesand270factories,includingtheJiangNanShipyard,whichemploys10,000workers.
Today,theexpositeiscrowdedwithnationalpavilions,sculpturegardens,shops,andasportsarenaandperformingartscentrewhichisshapedlikeaflyingsaucer.
Shanghaihastrainedmorethan1.7millionvolunteersandadoptedOlympic-levelsecuritymeasures,addingmetaldetectorstosubwayentrancesandscreeningcarsenteringthecity.
Forthefirsttime,ShanghaiExpowillalsofeatureanonlineversionoftheexpogroundsfeaturing3Drenderingsoftheexpogroundsa3Dversionofthepavilioninteriorandofferings.
TheopeningceremonywasheldintheeveningofApril30,2010,withtheattendanceofdozensofworldleaders.[8]Theceremonyconsistedofanindoorandoutdoorcomponent.JackieChan,LangLang,andAndreaBocelliwereamongtheperformersintheindoorcomponent.Theeventfeaturedanoutdoordisplayoffireworks,lasers,anddancingfountainsafteraperformancebysingersanddancers.[9][10]TheoutdoorceremonywasproducedbyDavidAtkinsEnterprises.6,000LEDballswerefloatedintotheHuangpuriverrepresentingfish.Organiserscalledtheoutdoorshow"thelargestsearchlightdisplayinhistory,thelargestcollectionofmulti-colouredlaserfirepowereverassembledinoneplace,theworld’slargestLEDscreen,oneofthelargestdancingwaterfountainsever,andthe“largestlightshoweverattempted”."[11]PresidentHuJintaodeclaredtheopeningoftheShanghaiWorldExpo.