Moon Boat (Saudi Arabia Expo Pavilion)

Shanghai, China

The Shanghai Expo 2020 was a grand event on an international scale that had countries from all over the world setting up their pavilions in a compound next to the Huangpu river in Pudong district. The amount of money spent on this expo made it the most expensive world fair to date and the whole thing lasted for 6 months. Almost all countries participated in the event and had something to offer the 70 million global citizens who visited. However, as the event wound up after its run, some pavilions were dismantled, fully or partially, while others were repurposed into exhibits or museums. Like the China pavilion which has been converted in to China Art Museum and is free to visit for all.

The Shanghai subway line 13 takes visitors right at the doorstep of the Shanghai Expo center when they disembark at World Expo Museum station on the north bank of the Huangpu river. The Lupu bridge can be seen clear as day from here as can many other huge and unique pavilions set up a decade ago for the Shanghai Expo. The World Expo museum, showcasing history of past expos, is closed on Mondays and timings are from 09:00 to 17:00 (last admittance by 16:15).

One of the original designs much admired within the expo was the Saudi Arabia pavilion. The idea was to build a design reminiscent of an oil tanker with an immense screen to showcase the culture of the country. However, visitors came to identify the shape more with a moon boat than anything else and that is how the pavilion gained its fame. A vast amount of money was expended ($164 million) making this the priciest exhibition hall of a visiting country. The pavilion came second size-wise, the first-place position taken by the Chinese pavilion which occupied a staggering area of 160,000 square meters.

The outside was a boat shape supported by huge pillars. Visitors would line up outside and be admitted on the moving walkway which would take them on a virtual tour of the country’s culture and progress, shown on the biggest IMAX screen (1,600 square meters!) in the world then. They would then come up outside where they were greeted by tents propped up in the sand with palm trees giving shade and giving the real feel of an oasis in the desert; the reality of the landscape of Saudi Arabia. These palm trees and a built mosque were brought in, as is, to China for the exhibit.

The moon boat pavilion had a capacity to cater for 30,000 people at a time but at most only 25,000 guests were invited to prevent congestion. There were long lines of visitors and by the end of the show, almost 4 million people had taken interest in going through the Saudi pavilion. It was reopened in 2011 and has been going till 2016 to welcome a further 7 million visitors fascinated by the shows of Saudi heritage and scenery and the innovative screen.

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