Experiencing Bamboo & Rattan at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo

Click here to download a tour of stunning bamboo and rattan constructions at the Expo.



Bamboo at the Expo
Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet and also one of the world’s oldest building materials. Bamboo is prized as being stronger than steel, as well as being highly renewable, flexible, durable and lightweight, which lends it to many uses for construction. Bamboo is being used at the Expo to build constructions of staggering beauty. The resource has been incorporated in a significant way into the design and construction of 9 Pavilions. It is also used considerably at the Expo grounds for landscape decoration, rest areas and for building a 3.6km boardwalk along the Huang Pu River.

Rattan at the Expo
Rattans are spiny climbing palms. Because of its strength, flexibility and uniformity, rattan is used in the construction of cane furniture, bridges, and matting of the commercial trade. The Spanish pavilion represents the largest construction made out of rattan in history. It uses 8,500 individual rattan panels, handmade by craftsmen in Shandong Province, China, to create a giant, hand-woven rattan basketrattan. Rattan is also featured in the interior of many other Expo pavilions.