The Shanghai World Expo marked its 100th day Sunday, with the first group of visitors arriving as early as 4 a.m.

Some, like Ni Dan from eastern Jiangsu Province, even chose to stay overnight in front of the Expo site entrance to guarantee obtaining tickets to some of the most popular pavilions.

Ni, 20, and two of his classmates were the first visitors entering the Expo site Sunday.

"We chose to visit Expo today for three reasons: it's the Expo's 100th day; it's the second anniversary of the Beijing Olympic Games; plus it's the eighth day of the eighth month, which is considered by many an auspicious number," Ni said.

Sitting on the ground or on 10-yuan (about $1.5) plastic folding stools newly purchased from vendors, people chatted, played cards or meditated to reserve energy for a very long day of waiting, walking, viewing and waiting again.

Nearly 38 million visitors, about 95 percent of whom are Chinese and nearly 80 percent are non-Shanghainese, have come to the Expo site since its opening on May 1, and an average of about 450,000 visitors came to the Expo site per day in August, equal to the population of a mid-level Chinese county, according to the Expo bureau.

The bureau also said shuttle buses in the Expo site have carried nearly 100 million visitors since its opening, as the buses were out on a run every 14 seconds.

The sudden influx of people has challenged the city's level of openness and hospitality, similar to what Beijing faced during the Olympics two years ago.

Hu Xinyu, a 22-year-old local resident who was back home this year from studying overseas, said Shanghai was greatly changed by the mega event. Hu was surprised to find that many taxi drivers could speak English and volunteers both in and outside the Expo site were always ready to help.

During the 184 days of the Expo, the number of volunteers will reach about 680,000, including those from 24 foreign countries.

In addition, since May 1, more than 80 National Pavilion Days have been marked to show the charm of these countries, with officials or even top leaders of these countries participating in the events, followed by business delegations.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2010)