I had some time to spare last week while I was in Shanghai. No time to waste browsing the Later...clips on the Word blogsite, because Youtube is not accessible in China. No Facebook either. So thought I would visit the World Expo. I had seen photos of some of the more notable installations and was intrigued to learn from the locals that the UK pavilion is one of the most popular, even if it does look like a giant hedgehog.

There are some impressive structures on display in the Expo park, which stretches along the edge of the Huangpo river. Organised by region, it's a lot of ground to cover and I only managed to see Asia and Europe. India and Japan have put up impressive structures, while Germany and Spain ably displayed their national spirit. While artistically impressive, they were also predictable. Germany's structure would not look entirely out of place as an office block in Frankfurt. Spain's is quite Dali-esque.

Which makes the UK's pavilion all the more pleasing, because it's not what you would expect. It's essentially a fibre-optic blob that occupies less than a quarter of the allotted ground. The rest is given over to a synthetic picnic area. It sounds improbable, but it's really good. I was genuinely proud to be British as I walked around it.

I just thought I would share this photo with you, to give you some idea of its mysterious qualities.