A freelance piece from Shanghai at the start of the World Expo.
Israel Showcases Its Brain Power on a Receptive World Stage
Letter From Shanghai
The age of great world’s fairs is supposed to be over, but no one told the Chinese.
Ignoring the conventional wisdom that these grand global assemblages have been rendered obsolete in the era of the Internet and satellite communications, and that their six-month life spans make them an unconscionable financial waste, the Chinese have merely gone ahead and opened the biggest, most ambitious World Expo in history. It’s an extravaganza that costs more than the Beijing Olympics, and is expected to draw a minimum of 70 million people.
No one told the Israelis, either.
