Weather forecast

The big opening day is nearly here, and forecasters are predicting that Shanghai may have cloudy weather with a chance of rain during the Expo 2010 opening ceremony and on the first day of operation.

While artificial climate control has been used for large-scale events in the past, such as the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau officials said they would not consider using artificial methods unless absolutely necessary.

The Expo opening ceremony will take place outdoors but can be moved indoors in case of sudden heavy rain, Expo officials said.

The weather will be warm during the Expo opening ceremony, and experts encouraged visitors to drink plenty of water and take preventative measures against sunburn.

Weather reports will be provided during local news television programs at 7 am and 8 am, and during the Expo segment of the International Channel Shanghai's nightly news program.

Foreign visitors can access weather information in English at www.expoweather.com.

Weather information will also be available on the 150 LED TV information boards throughout the Expo Garden and also via the Garden's broadcast system.

Expo tickets

All Expo 2010 Shanghai tickets for May 1 have been sold out, organizers said.

Tickets for May 1 fall under Peak Day admission.

There will be 17 Peak Days during the Expo's 184-day period until October. These include:

Labor Day holiday (May 1-3), National Day holiday (Oct 1-7) and the last week before the Expo's closing date (Oct 25-30).

One Peak Day admission ticket costs 200 yuan ($30). A Standard Day ticket costs 160 yuan. Peak Day tickets that are not used on their designated days can also be used on Standard Days.

Tickets for May 2 and May 3 are still available. If they are sold out before April 30, officials will not provide more tickets at the Expo site.

For more information, visit http://en.expo2010.cn/expotickets/indexn.htm.