国内英语新闻:Shanghai Expo marks 100th day of running

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 Park 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. This greatly exceeds the 76,000 volunteers assisting during the Beijing Olympics. Most Expo volunteers are from the post-1980 and post-1990 generations.

Xu Yuan of Shanghai Normal University is a volunteer who has worked in both the Shanghai Expo and the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

Being an experienced volunteer, Xu still found the most difficult part of volunteering is answering questions. Xu was often besieged by a dozen Expo visitors asking a variety of questions.

-- "The French and Spanish Pavilion, which one I should go to?"

-- "How do I get to the Bund?"

-- "How far is it between Monaco and Morocco?"

-- "Is it Indonesia or India?"