5月1日起可以網(wǎng)上逛世博

被國際展覽局秘書長洛塞泰斯譽為“世博會史上革命性創(chuàng)舉”的網(wǎng)上上海世博會(www.expo.cn)將于5月1日全面上線。上海世博局副局長朱詠雷透露，4月30日晚上11點以后，網(wǎng)上世博會將先于實體世博會全面“開館”，網(wǎng)民可以先睹為快。自去年11月12日上線以來，進入網(wǎng)上世博園區(qū)的人次累計約2500萬。全面上線后的網(wǎng)上世博會將提供更豐富的內(nèi)容，包括園區(qū)內(nèi)152個獨立建筑的外觀、200多個瀏覽型展館、近100個體驗性展館以及“一軸四館”等13個組織方展館。屆時，網(wǎng)上世博會“未來之城”也將正式上線。在角色扮演的互動社區(qū)里，參觀者不僅可以“觸摸”設計精美的展品，與其他參觀者交流、結伴共游世博園，還可以組隊完成吉祥物海寶布置的游戲任務，獲取獎品。

Expo Shanghai Online, an innovative feature of Expo 2010 Shanghai, will officially go live on May 1, the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination announced on Thursday.

The bilingual website, www.expo.cn, which appears in both English and Chinese, offers a 3D virtual tour of the Expo Garden as well as an interactive role-playing game, The City of the Future.

Both the virtual tour and the game are free of charge, though users will need to download an installation package before they can use the services.

Expo Shanghai Online provides the first-ever virtual tour of a World fair.

"Expo Shanghai Online is a revolutionary creation in the history of world exhibitions," said Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, secretary-general of the Bureau International des Expositions.

Since the trial version of Expo Shanghai Online appeared on Nov 12, 2009, 25 million users have taken the online tour.

The official version of Expo Shanghai Online is more diverse and attractive than the trial one, said Zhu Yonglei, deputy head of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

In the virtual tour of the Expo Garden, visitors will be able to observe the appearance of 152 architectural structures, explore the inside of more than 200 exhibition halls and experience more than 100 interactive displays, Zhu said.

Online visitors can also gather stamps from hundreds of pavilions on an Expo passport, a popular innovation of Expo 67 Montreal.

In contrast to the difficulty of queuing to gather a collection of stamps in an actual Expo Garden, the ease of clicking on a site to collect stamps is regarded as one of the advantages of Expo Shanghai Online.

With the interactive online game The City of the Future, users can converse with celebrities, including basketball player Yao Ming and actor Jacky Chan.

The game server is capable of allowing 10,000 users to be logged in at the same time, enabling players to form squads and fulfill assignments to win prizes, including admission to the actual Expo Garden and Belgian chocolate.

Tencent and China Telecom, technical supporters of Expo Shanghai Online, said they are able to guarantee safe and stable service for visitors to Expo Shanghai Online.