Thousands of fans lined up outside the World Expo site from early yesterday to get a ticket to see Super Junior, a South Korean singing group, perform at the Expo Culture Center last night.

Some fans even began their wait at about 11pm on Saturday, hoping to get a glimpse of their idols.

The crowds mainly gathered at the entrances on Changqing Road, Shangnan Road and Gaoke Road W., which are closer to the performance venue than other entrances. Their enthusiasm surprised security guards who hadn't seen anything like it, not even on the eve of opening day on May 1.

Several girls from Beijing said they flew to Shanghai on Saturday morning. After they rushed to buy Expo tickets for the following day, they returned to queue outside the Expo site.

Tickets for the concert, which also features other South Korean stars, were not for sale. People had to show their Expo tickets to get a concert ticket. With half the tickets reserved for South Korean groups, only 2,500 tickets were available but at least 5,000 ordinary visitors were in the queue in front of the Expo Culture Center.

Some fans who stood in lines overnight said it was worth the wait as they only needed to buy an Expo ticket to see Super Junior, a ticket which would usually have cost them several hundred yuan or more. The group's China appearance was also a fairly rare event.

Tickets had been snatched up within five minutes, and some unlucky fans moved to the South Korea Pavilion, hoping the group would appear there.

By around 3pm yesterday, the roads leading to the Expo Culture Center were blocked by fans and armed police had to be dispatched to keep order.