CRI听力:The Expo One Year On. What's Left and was it Worth it?

Staff at the Shanghai Expo partying it up in the Australian pavilion just weeks before the end of the event last year.

And there was a lot to celebrate. The exhibition attracted over 70 million visitors; it made an operating profit and left Shanghai with a new airport and extended subway line.

"The red building is the China Pavilion"

And some buildings will remain open, including the China pavilion, which the government wants to turn into an art museum rivaling those in New York or Paris.

The event also raised Shanghai – and China's profile on the international stage.

Marcel Schneider is head of multinational travel agency TUI China. He compares the scale of the event to the Olympics.

"Talking about the image of China, how important was the Expo?"

"I think Expo and Olympics, these are fantastic events for the image of a country. Especially when executed in such professional manner. So I think they did an awful lot of good for China, not just for Beijing and Shanghai, but for the whole country because it shows they can properly carry out these big events. So I think it was the best advertisement not just for the two cities but the whole country."

But not all were satisfied. Cheng Meihong is Deputy Director of the Shanghai Tourism Bureau.

"The number of tourists coming to Shanghai last year reached 8.51 million. For a city, it's a huge number. But this is still below our expectations because we believe Shanghai is a world famous tourist destination."

And then there was the cost. Around 60 billion dollars according to some reports. That's about the same as the GDP of Croatia. Can any exhibition be worth so much?

I put this question to Johnny Lu, Director of Sales and Marketing at Shanghai luxury property firm St Regis.

"The Expo has had a positive effect on Shanghai and China. But it was incredibly expensive. Did China get value for money?"

"It's hard to say. In the short term – we spent around 500 billion RMB on the event. If you ask will we get all the money back, I can say definitely not. But long term, can we get this kind of return? Definitely"

But what about the locals - do they think the Expo was good for their city?

"The Expo got Shanghai a lot of international attention and helped the development of the city."

"I think the Expo changed people's lives. More visitors come here now and they see Shanghai as an international city."

"We use more electronic vehicles in Shanghai now. Before the Expo, there were many vehicles with high carbon emissions. So the city's more environmentally friendly."

It may have been the most expensive party on the planet. But more than a year after closing the legacy of the Shanghai Expo will be felt for a long time to come.

For CRI in Shanghai, I'm Dominic Swire.