Machines to monitor Expo for big queues

By Yang Jian  |   2009-7-1  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE organizer of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will set up 200 reservation machines at the Expo site for visitors to reserve specific pavilions.

All pavilions expected to draw large queues will be listed on each machine.

Each visitor would be able to reserve a pavilion daily, said Fei Jinseng, director of the Visitors' Service Center of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

When people make special reservations, the information will be stored on a chip on their Expo tickets. An accompanying slip will tell visitors when they can enter the pavilion they reserve and when they have to leave.

To enter the pavilion, they must show both their tickets and the reservation paper.

The machines will feature different languages, including English and Chinese. Volunteers will stand by at each of the machines to offer help.

Fei said the machines would alert patrons when too many people made reservations to pavilions, averting long queues.

Large screens will be set up across the Expo site to monitor and show queues at the most popular pavilions.