World Expo 2010 visitors will not only have a tough choice deciding which pavilions to visit, but also what to eat.

A wide variety of set meals will be available at the Expo site ranging in price from 38 yuan (US$5.57) to about 300 yuan, Duan Fugen, secretary general of the Shanghai Restaurants Association, said yesterday at a food show in Shanghai.

Fourteen set meals from 12 local restaurants belonging to the association were exhibited at the show. The association was invited by the Shanghai Expo organizer to advise on the meals that would be offered to visitors to the Expo.

The Expo meals will be divided into business set and family set categories. Both sets have three price levels, said Duan. The medium level will be around 100 yuan per person.

The 38-yuan business set meal is Western-style beef, sweet and sour pork, Chinese cabbage fried with mushrooms, vegetable soup, a thin soup and watermelon. A top-level 298-yuan business set meal includes abalone soup and precious fungus.

The 38-yuan meal was designed for most of the visitors and the luxury meal is expected to be served at the summit conference, forums and business talks during the Expo, Duan said.

As well as the summit conference, six themed forums and a dozen public forums will be held during the Expo.

The Expo meals will be fast, healthy and delicious, said Duan.

He said all of the fish and chicken bones will be removed so that visitors can eat easily and leave less waste. Less oil, salt and sugar will be added to all recipes, Duan said.

To ensure the meal tastes delicious for both local and foreign visitors, Chinese and Western cuisines will be combined in each set meal. For example, in a 98-yuan medium-level family set meal, the Western-style beef is served in an "eight treasures in hot sauce" or babaolajiang style, a Shanghai-style sauce made from eight ingredients including pork, peanut and bamboo.

The number of vegetable and meat dishes in a meal will not be fixed. They can be combined freely according to the requirements of visitors, said Duan.

The association will also come up with some snack foods such as ice cream and hotdogs for visitors to eat while walking around the site, Duan added.

The Shanghai Expo organizer plans to set up 100,000 square meters of restaurants in the 5.28-square-kilometer Expo site. A dozen other squares offering food will also be dotted around the site, Huang Jianzhi, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, has said.

The 184-day 2010 Shanghai World Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors, including around 5 percent from overseas.

(Shanghai Daily November 29, 2008)