Former Shanghai Expo Axis to reopen

Workers make final cleaning preparations today to ready the former Expo Axis, the main entrance to the World Expo 2010 site, for its reopening tomorrow as a four-story shopping mall. (Photo source: Shanghai Daily)

The former Expo Axis, the main entrance to the World Expo 2010 site, will reopen to the public on Wednesday as a four-story shopping mall.

The River Mall on the 1-kilometer Expo Axis along the Huangpu River in Pudong opens with stores, restaurants and Polymax theaters.

Operators, the Bailian Group, said they will work with nearby Expo pavilions, including the China Art Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Arena, to attract visitors.

Small trains will take visitors on the top floor of the mall, a former open-air platform on the Expo Axis." We can interact with other pavilions at the Expo site to let visitors go shopping, rest or take meals at restaurants after visiting Expo pavilions," said Li Yulin, general manager of the Shanghai Expo and Bailian Commercial Company.

The mall has two floors above the ground and another two underground, covering some 50,000 square meters.

People can take Metro Line 8 to the China Art Museum Station to get to the River Mall. Beside the mall, the headquarters of domestic and international companies will be located in the former Zone A in the Pudong New Area, which housed Asian pavilions.

Zone B, which mostly hosted pavilions of international organizations, has been designated as a headquarters site for 13 of China's state-owned enterprises, including Baosteel and the State Grid.

Some 28 structures will be built using environmentally friendly materials and designs.