Exploring Doha, Qatar 2— Expo 2023
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Entering Expo 2023’s international zone from the back entrance at Al Bidda Park, I was thrilled to be in Expo again, albeit being the smaller “Horticultural Expo” instead of a mainstream universal one. Given how much the Qatari government splurged at the World Cup, I was confident they would do the same in Expo 2023 to gain international reputation. If they had gone as far as changing their passport stamps, it must be a magnificent event that rivaled the neighboring Dubai’s Expo 2020.
I first attended Expo 2010 in Shanghai; We had a fabulous time during the trip to Expo 2015 Milan, a trip that activated my wanderlust till this day; We also planned to visit Expo 2020 Dubai for a long time, but didn’t make it due to obvious reasons. Expo 2020, just like the Tokyo Olympics, still took place in 2021 when the pandemic started to shift to its next phase, but closed borders and entry requirements made the trip impossible.
So I had such high expectation for Expo 2023. (I even followed their official Instagram account since a while ago.) This is THE next big thing after the FIFA World Cup after all. But as I entered the International Zone, I still saw very few visitors, a far cry from the international fiestas I’ve seen in the past.
It was already one month into the 6-month event, but many pavilions were still unfinished, some of which were basically ongoing construction sites with steel nails spreading on the ground. Many pavilions were straight-out stores selling snacks and local goods, with little or no real exhibits about the country’s culture and how it tried to achieve a “greener, better environment” (Expo 2023’s slogan) whatsoever.
But the worst part was the negligence from many participating countries — many countries didn’t even assign people to their pavilions, so the Expo committee just hired contract staffs to do the work. Many pavilions thus had only Pakistani and Bangladeshis staffs (they constitute the major workforce in Qatar) who knew the exhibiting country as little as myself, which felt pretty out of place. Talking to people all over the world had been a highlight in my visit to previous Expos. When I went to the Palestinian pavilion, I would like to speak to Palestinians about the ongoing Gaza war and how they saw the conflict from their perspectives; when I went to the Uzbekistan pavilion, I would like to learn some traveling tips in this beautiful country from locals’ first hand experiences. Unfortunately this was not possible in many of the pavilions this time.
But there were still some pavilions that I had pretty positive experiences, most from hearing stories from people from the exhibiting countries. In the Tanzanian pavilion, the guy told me I was the first person visiting his pavilion on that day, and how he was assigned as a business representative here. In the pavilion of Burkina Faso, the friendly guy boasted that their president was the best in Africa (there was literally a president’s portrait hanging on the wall), and invited me to try a number of his country’s traditional musical instruments. In the pavilion of Myanmar, I talked to the lady briefly about how their lives changed after the 2021 coup. In the pavilion of Lesotho, the lady was passionate to introduce her country by little resource (videos and photos) available at hand. Exhibits in most of the pavilions were very simple, but I was touched by many people’s enthusiasm when talking about their beloved countries. This is the core spirit of Expo, which really reinforced my determination to visit every country in the world.
There were around 70 countries with pavilions in Expo 2023, most of which were Asian and African countries. The neighboring gulf states were the ones who put more efforts in their exhibitions. The Saudi Arabia pavilion was perhaps the most well-designed among all. At least it was cool-looking, and displayed a movie with exciting soundtracks.
Qatar’s own pavilion featured its traditional architecture in the desert. While it looked cool, there wasn’t much in the pavilion to be seen.
Kuwait Pavilion was also aesthetically appealing, with many friendly and helpful staffs showing me how to see pictures of their local flora and fauna on the touch screen. They also gave me a small bag of souvenir (a small notebook and key chain!), which turned out to be the only souvenir I got from Expo 2023.
Pavilion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) looked very fancy inside, displaying cooperation among the 6 gulf states, their environmental goals, and portraits of all 6 countries’ founding leaders and current leaders. I very much looked forward to the day the Gulf Railway connecting Oman and Kuwait is completed, and when they finally launch the joint-visa program (some of their visas are very hard and expensive to get now)
Japan’s pavilion displayed their ikebana (floral design, 花道) culture, and some plans for the next Horticultural Expo, held in 2027 in Yokohama, Japan.
I visited nearly all the pavilions in an afternoon. Not to bore you with photos from every single pavilion, I would put some honorable mentions below.
Switzerland pavilion with a special car. This is one of the few European countries coming to exhibit this year. / DRC’s iconic baobab tree / Burkina Faso: This is what a typical average pavilion looked like
Palestinian pavilion, unfortunately without any Palestinians. It displayed a huge photo of Dome of the Rock (occupied by Israel) and sold some local food. / This is a bad one, it’s obviously unfinished (common it’s already one month into this 6-month event) / Pavilion of Bhutan. This was also one of the better designed ones.
As evening approached, the few bigger pavilions were lit up. I went to a volunteer to ask about souvenir stores. I’d made it a habit to collect Expo souvenirs (I still kept those from Expo 2015 with me now!), and would like to purchase something with Expo 2023’s logo on it. Surely an event as big as Expo (the next big thing after FIFA World Cup) had to have a big souvenir store.
“We actually don’t have one yet. We may have one in the next month. Sorry!” The volunteer was wearing a very cool T-shirt, which was also not available to purchase.
I was expecting some outdoor events with music and dances at night as well, just as in previous Expos. Perhaps food stands and local vendors? Nope. Only 4 food stands in a corner that few people seemed to go to, and no souvenir stores at all.
Expo 2023, still a positive experience to me, but underwhelming to be honest. Thanks to the guys in the Kuwaiti pavilion, I at least had some proof of my visit.
Next:
- Exploring Doha, Qatar 3 — Souq Waqif
- Exploring Doha, Qatar 4 — Doha Port, National Museum of Qatar
- Doha — Ho Chi Minh city Qatar Airways QR974 Flight Report / Vietnam arrival
