Drinking water supply

More drinking water facilities have been installed around the Expo Garden as the mercury continues to shoot up.

A total of 56 additional drinking water facilities are now available, increasing the drinking water supply by 30 percent. Most of the facilities have been installed in the areas around the most popular pavilions, including China, Japan, the UK and Spain.

"As visitors flock to popular pavilions, drinking water in these areas has become an issue, since drinks from outside are not allowed in the Expo Garden," said Zhu Xiangjun from the Shenzhen-based Litree Company, which is in charge of drinking water facilities for the Expo. "The original number of facilities were not meeting the visitors' needs," he said. "With serpentine queues at the water fountains, there was an urgent need to increase the number of such facilities at the venue."

He said the maximum water supply of a fountain near the popular pavilions is up to 8 tons a day.

There are 158 drinking water fountains scattered around the Expo Garden, with 131 on the Pudong side and 27 on the Puxi side. These facilities, each with 12 to 18 outlets, provide free drinking water for more than 1,000 visitors at any given time.

Three fountains will also be installed in the parking lot on the Puxi side by the end of the month.

Reports said the water facilities, which use green technology, would eradicate the use of 210 million plastic bottles and save 3.5 million tons of tap water during the six-month event.

Tips for visitors

The China National Tourism Administration has advised against traveling to the Expo Garden during peak times and suggested that May and June are the best months to visit Expo 2010 Shanghai.

The number of visitors during May and June will be less than in July and August, when most schools and colleges are closed for summer vacations.

Visitors have also been advised to avoid traveling in Shanghai between noon and 5 pm, as well as to visit the Expo in the evenings when it is less crowded.

Expo authorities said they are planning more performances in the evening to cater to the expected increase in night visitors.