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.