For all the hassle, annoyance, propaganda, rent hikes and general mayhem caused by Expo, it's pretty much here and it's pretty much awesome. Weird, wacky and wonderful is how we described it in our special Expo edition which hits the streets today. Below are 16 reasons to love Expo.

1: The Seed Cathedral

Called “The Hedgehog” and “A Fiber-Optic Shrine to Mother Nature's Reproductive Prowess,” it’s easy to guess the heart of the UK Pavilion is a fascinating structure. Sixty thousand fiber-optic acrylic rods protrude from an 18-meter high cube-like building that is designed to appear to be floating. Enclosed within the end of each 7.5-meter rod are seeds from a plant species. The seeds come from China's Kunming Institute of Botany, a partner of the UK's Kew Royal Botanic Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank Project, whose goal is to stockpile seeds from 25 percent of the world’s plant species by 2020. The rods sway gracefully with the wind, refracting light rays that illuminate the entire building during the day. At night, miniscule lighting elements found in each rod will glow, creating an incredible light spectacle. After the Expo, the rods and seeds will be donated to schools across the UK and China.

Find it: Zone C

2: Haibao Robot Guides

Thirty-seven 1.5-meter-tall “Haibots” will be motoring around the Expo, helping lost tourists find their way. The robots provide interactive games on their touch-screen chests, perform dance routines, tell jokes, sing songs and, best of all, take pictures for tourists. For real. Haibots can also lead tours together, mimic the changing of the guard and perform as a group. Haibots will greet visitors in six different languages at both Pudong and Hongqiao airports and at the entrance of some major Expo venues.

Find them everywhere

3: French Weddings

Always dreamed of a classic French wedding? Make it come true (kinda) thanks to the ever-romantic French. Don your wedding gear and head to the France Pavilion, where wedding ceremonies will be performed on a daily basis. Couples are given the opportunity to take pictures in the Sensual Garden, an enormous, beautiful French-style garden. Don’t expect a legitimate wedding license, though–this photo-op is just for fun. Every couple dressed in wedding attire receives a wedding passport, gift and the chance to win a trip to France.

Find it: Zone C

4: The “Secret Machine”

One of the super secrets of this year’s Expo is the debut of a never-before seen cinematic machine at the Australia Pavilion. Publicist Yolanda Lu claims it is a “spectacular audio-visual experience featuring stunning images of Australia, all filmed in a format never before seen.” Will it surpass the 4-D films, where visitors “feel” the movie thanks to wind and shaking, that other pavilions are bragging about? Will it outshine the world’s largest IMAX screen, an enormous 1,600 square meters, at the Saudi Pavilion? We’re looking forward to finding out.

Find it: Zone B

5: Cool Cars

The Monaco Pavilion has a section devoted to Formula 1, plus a prototype of the new luxe ecological car Venturi Volage. At the Italy Pavilion, an Isotta Fraschini, one of the world’s most luxurious vehicles, and Ferrari’s new hybrid car will be on view. Toyota’s i-REAL, a one-passenger vehicle, will be featured at the Japan Pavilion. In the Shanghai Automotive Industry Cooperation- General Motors Pavilion, check out GM’s two-passenger electric vehicle, the EN-V, whose batteries can be charged at a standard household wall outlet.

Find it: Zone C - Monaco Pavilion, Italy Pavilion, Japan Pavilion, Shanghai Automotive Industry Cooperation-General Motors Pavilion

6: North Korea

This year marks the first World Expo for this famously secretive country. At the North Korean Pavilion, the theme is all about “Pyongyang, the Capital of North Korea.” Curious visitors can meander through displays of models, photos and videos about Pyongyang’s folk and modern culture, architecture and living habits. Unsurprisingly, we found no renderings of the final look–everything seems to be top secret, so check out the photo for a peek at part of the façade.

Find it: Zone A

7: Toilet Time

Lines for the restrooms at the last World Expo in Aichi, Japan, were super long. This time around, Shanghai's Expo bureau collected data on more than one million toilet users while constructing their toilet layout. Visitors are guaranteed toilet waits of no more than 10 minutes, even during peak periods. The grounds have 8,000 restrooms decorated in warm colors with piped-in music. Inside each cubicle, temperatures will be moderated to ensure it is a comfortable 10 degrees cooler inside than out. Plus, instead of installing ceiling fans, organizers have created a system in which fumes are extracted from below.

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8: Fly

In the Latvia Pavilion, you’ll find innovative green ideas, future technology and flying people. Up the circular staircase on the third floor is the highlight of this pavilion: a glass AERODIUM wind tunnel powered by three mighty electric engines which blow wind upwards at 250 kilometers per hour. Jump in and feel like you’re skydiving. You can't buy a flight on this ride, so let’s hope luck is on your side when you enter the contest in person or at www.latviaexpo.com after the Expo opens. Two hundred people per day will be chosen to fly.

Find it: Zone C

9: Mini Camera

At the Israel Pavilion, a new mini camera, CamPill, will be introduced as an option to painful gastroscopy (flexible fiber-optic examination of the oesophagus, stomach and duodenum). This intelligent capsule, equipped with a mini camera and six flashes, is swallowed with water and moves naturally through the stomach, large intestine and small intestine, sending out 80,000 digital images over a period of 8-10 hours. Afterwards, it's naturally expelled from the body. Though physically painless, this medical procedure may do some damage to your wallet–it costs US$1,000.

Find it: Zone A

10: Bling Bling

At the Belgium Pavilion, brilliant diamonds sparkle from every corner. Over 50 diamond pieces are on display, including 10 prestigious antique diamond jewels and the world-famous ECC trophy, a diamond-studded tennis racket made from six kilograms of gold and 1,600 diamonds, weighing in at a total of 150 carats. There will be a display starring Lesotho Promise, the 15th largest diamond ever found, which will follow the story of its discovery to its division into 26 diamonds. HRD-certified diamonds will also be available for purchase. Jewelers from the famous Wolfers House will be on hand to turn your diamonds into jewelry. Wolfers is the oldest jewelry company in Belgium. They've been the preferred jeweler of many aristocratic families and collectors, including the Royal Family of Belgium. Don’t have the cash available to buy diamonds? Win one in the restaurant or in the Diamond Exhibition Corner, where they will be given away daily.

Find it: Zone C

11: The Woven Spanish Pavilion

Basket-weaving is a tradition revered by both Spanish and Chinese cultures. Held together by a steel frame, 8,542 brown, beige and black wicker panels have been woven by Spanish artisans to create a pavilion which resembles an enormous tiger-print basket. From a distance, the colors appear in a tiger-stripe pattern. On closer inspection, you’ll see that the black panels form Chinese characters representing the sun and other such elements of nature, a common theme throughout the pavilion. The wicker naturally lights the structure, filtering out just the right amount of sun to keep the interior cool and comfy.

Find it: Zone C

12: Artistic Masterpieces

Considering the lack of European art in Shanghai, art fans are thrilled that works from the Renaissance, Impressionist and Modern art movements will be on display. In the France Pavilion, six paintings and a sculpture are on loan from the Museé d’Orsay: The Angelus by Millet, The Balcon by Manet, La Sallee Danse à Arles by Van Gogh, La Femme à la Cafetière by Cézanne, La Loge de Bonnard and Le Repas by Gauguin and The Age of Bronze by Rodin. Two of Caravaggio’s paintings, Boy With Basket of Fruit and Basket of Fruit , will be exhibited in the Italy Pavilion starting in mid- June. And, straight from Barcelona's Parc Güell to the Spain Pavilion, is a replica of Gaudi’s sculpture Dragon.

Find it: Zone C - France Pavilion, Italy Pavilion, Spain Pavilion

13: Anti-pollution Tiles

The floor of the Italy Pavilion is covered in durable ceramic floor tiles that contain titanium dioxide, which has antibacterial properties and greatly reduces pollution. The titanium dioxide triggers a photocatalytic reaction with the water in the air, drawing an invisible layer of moisture that acts as a shield against dirt while simultaneously wiping out smells, ammonia, sulphur dioxide, formaldehyde, ethanol and more. Harmless to humans, the tiles eliminate the need for harsh chemical cleaning agents.

Find it: Zone C

14: Musical Forest

Get surrounded by a wooden musical installation at the Hungarian Pavilion, where each "tree" plays a different note. The 600 vertically hanging tubes invite visitors to produce unique melodies by tapping the wood. During the day, natural sunlight filters in through the sound tubes, lighting the interior of the building and creating a scene reminiscent of a stroll through the woods. At night, the lights built into the wooden tubes generate a starlit sky.

Find it: Zone C

15: 720-degree Movie

Dubbed the “Magic Box,” China's State Grid Pavilion promises to take visitors on a magical journey that feels so real, visitors are provided handrails to keep them from tipping over. This glitzy, high-tech 20-meter-tall cubic theater is equipped with six screens, one on each of the walls, floor and ceiling, engulfing viewers in a 720-degree movie experience. A four-minute movie will depict a life in the future fueled by intelligent power systems during which spectators will experience sensations like surfing and dropping off a cliff.

Find it: Zone D

16: High Fashion

True to the luxurious, fashionforward nature of the country, the welcome staff at the Italy Pavilion will be dressed in designer duds supplied by Prada. These specially designed faille and poplin uniforms incorporate eye-popping, contemporary colors such as fuchsia and white, though keeping to Prada’s typically clean, modern look. Male and female staff members will sport monochrome nylon and leather sneakers in different styles and both will carry Prada’s classic vela shoulder bags in grey. With the 2015 World Expo set for Milan, Italy is putting its best (dressed) foot forward.

Find it: Zone C

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