Extravaganza draws to a colorful climax after record number of visitors

Performers and floats parade through Pudong, Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

The curtain dropped on Expo 2010 on Sunday night, October 31, with a heart-warming closing ceremony attended by a host of world leaders.

Since its opening in May, more than 73 million people - a record for the extravaganza - visited displays by 189 countries during the half-year culture and technology showcase that provided snapshots of the world to Chinese and foreign visitors.

Premier Wen Jiabao praised Expo on Sunday as a "splendid event" that "truly brought together people around the globe".

Shanghai achieved its goal of bolstering the economy and cemented its reputation as an international financial center and a city of world stature as China, still basking in the glow of its successful staging of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, showcased its mounting political and economic clout.

The closing ceremony brought a formal end to a journey that started in December 2002, when Shanghai won the bid for the cultural gala. From that moment on, numerous workers and officials raced against the clock to give the world the 184-day wonder.

The Expo, with the theme "Better City, Better Life", displayed a number of global cultural treasures including the bronze chariot and horse sculpture from China's Warring States Period (475-221 BC), the statue of Athena from Greece and French impressionist masterpieces.

Other highlights included Denmark's famed "Little Mermaid" sculpture, a rooftop cable car ride above a replica Alpine meadow at the Swiss pavilion, and entertainment courtesy of Canada's Cirque du Soleil.

The Shanghai extravaganza had added a glorious chapter to the event's history, Wen said in an address to Sunday's Expo Summit Forum on Urban Innovation and Sustainable Development.

He noted that it was the first time that Expo was hosted by a developing country, and also the first time that it had been hosted in the center of a mega city, which posed a severe test for organizers.

"The World Expo is above national, ethnic and religious boundaries," he said.