SHANGHAI - More than 12,000 reporters from around the world covering Expo 2010 Shanghai have been able to find a home away from home at the International Broadcasting Center.

"Volunteers at the front desk not only provide quality media contact services, but also provide services such as booking tickets and leasing facilities," said Lin Lu, a reporter from China Radio International based in Beijing. "It makes me feel like I'm at home in Beijing."

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To help reporters, especially those working late, organizers brought in coffee and other refreshments.

"I do enjoy the working environment in the press center," said Lin.

Meanwhile, shuttle buses between the center and the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination allow reporters to get into and out of the Expo Garden in less than 15 minutes.

Staff of the Expo Bureau gained experience during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and other important international events held in China.

Song Chao, director of the press center of Expo 2010 Shanghai, said since the event opened on May 1, thousands of reporters have struggled through Expo crowds to capture something special for their audiences.

Though the press center is highly praised, differences were felt when it was suggested by some reporters to increase the air-conditioning to make people feel more comfortable.

"Sometimes it is too cold to stay long in the press center, especially in summer when people do not wear a lot of clothes," said Min-G Yao, a features and supplement reporter from Shanghai Daily, a Shanghai-based English newspaper.

Located beside the Huangpu River, the press center, in a building called the Expo Center, has organized more than 100 press conferences and group interviews.

With a floor space of 12,000 square meters, the Expo Center will later become a permanent venue for annual sessions of the city's legislature and political advisory body.

The International Broadcasting Center is broadcasting large events during the six months of the Expo, including the opening and closing ceremonies and national pavilion days.

Shanghai Media Group, one of the largest media organizations in China, has a 1,000-strong production team that has produced more than 260 hours of live programs for the Expo.

According to Reuters' Shanghai Bureau, 47 of its subscribers worldwide broadcast Expo's opening ceremony on April 30 and 21 subscribers broadcast the grand opening of the Expo site on May 1.

According to the Expo Bureau, about 120 overseas TV stations in regions such as Europe, central and western Asia and both North and Latin America, have used their signals.

Germany's AED Fernschen, a major TV network, said it was grateful for the technological help provided by the press center, which ensured the success of its Expo program, broadcast at the end of April with an audience of nearly five million back in Germany.

News organizations have all geared up to cover the Expo. Among the 552 Hong Kong and Macao reporters, there are about 20 journalists from Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao.

Mao Jie, director of the newspaper's Shanghai bureau, said all reporters stationed in Shanghai have come to cover the Expo and there were also 10 in Hong Kong participating in the coverage.

Mao said he was "impressed by the fine coffee provided by the press center."

The center has also installed automatic massage armchairs, similar to those at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Xinhua - China Daily