In the month since the Shanghai Expo opened, it has also highlighted the way many children see their respective cities through myriad different geographical and economic conditions.

Eyes wide open

Liu Yiran, 10, from Jiangsu Province, was mesmerized by the colorful giant flowers and fruits, watermills, water pipes made of reeds and cars running on solar batteries in the "city of talents" at the Russia Pavilion.

She was also impressed by the video presentation of "residents" of the imaginary city, who introduced high-tech products like nano-technology ink and a software system for intellectual IP video surveillance.

"I prefer the future world shown in this pavilion," she said. "It's not all about technology. Here the technologies are merged with flowers, trees and animated characters in a natural environment."

In Liu's eyes, a space trip will be as common as her bus trip to school everyday. And her dream job is an artist, who specializes in painting other planets like those in the Hollywood movie, Avatar.

"But I'm not there to be an invader, because I believe all the people, no matter which planet they come from, should work together for a better tomorrow," she said.

The girl's parents say the Expo is an opportunity to inspire her imagination.

"With services like the Internet, children nowadays are much more informed than our generation when we were young. I'm glad Yiran also has a strong sense of responsibility, not only to her own small world, but to the whole big world," said her father, Liu Chaojun.

Cities based on inter-relationship

A virtual girl named Manuela attracts the attention of visitors to the Chile pavilion. The 6-year-old can be seen in all the exhibition halls, observing the ups and downs of San Diego, the capital.

She looks highly concerned about cities. "What is the exact meaning of cities? Are cities simply streets, expressways, high-rises, or apartments for us to live in? Are these structures the essentials of cities?

"What can modern cities offer? What is the magic power for a declining city's recovery? Why do we keep reconstructing and rejuvenating cities? Cities will naturally undergo transformation, development, expansion and death. Why do people want to live in cities?" she wonders aloud.

Manuela frowns at San Diego, which has experienced earthquakes and tsunamis, and more often, demolitions of old buildings.

"I live in a city where people are willing to enhance their inter-relationship. We form cities. Cities are different from each other, but they are inter-connected by our blood," she says.

"The more cooperation people have, the more value they can generate, which is the guarantee of their life quality in cities," she says.

"Manuela is not only a virtual image. Her prototype originates from a real person, embodying the average Chilean child and the country's future generations," says Jorge Iglesias, the Chile Pavilion director.

"We want the children to tell the future of cities by their own words, because the world in their eyes is real and non-polluted," he says.