SHANGHAI
(REUTERS).- Shanghai officially opened its
multi-billion-dollar Expo Friday with a dazzling display of fireworks,
lasers
and dancing fountains, amid tight security and the virtual shutdown of
its main
Pudong financial district. After a rather low-key performance by singers
and
dancers in an indoor arena, the ceremony moved outside, with fireworks
exploding
off bridges and fountains shooting water up as high as 80 meters (263
ft). Some
6,000 LED fuchsia, red and yellow balls floated into the murky Huangpu
River,
creating a bright sea of balloons against the black water.