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SHANGHAI -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday took a few hours off from her attempts to ensure that war doesn't erupt on the Korean peninsula and that Iran doesn't get the bomb to bask in one of the singular successes of her 17 months as the nation's top diplomat: the U.S. pavilion at China's first world's fair.

Clinton toured the American and Chinese pavilions at Expo 2010 Shanghai, exchanged pleasantries with local Chinese officials, cooed over artwork of Chinese schoolchildren, hobnobbed with the expo's Gumby-like mascots and was even serenaded by scattered calls of "We love you, Hillary!"

"I'm just relieved," Clinton said when asked how she felt about the experience.

And she has reason to be. When she took office in January of last year, U.S. participation in the event was questionable. The group pushing for U.S. participation had little money and less direction. It looked increasingly likely that the United States would miss a jamboree of 189 nations and what its organizers claim will be the biggest staged event in human history. China's government is believed to have poured $50 billion into the event and says it is expecting 70 million visitors over six months. U.S. law made government funding difficult. Missing out on the fair would have sent a bad signal to China, which loves these big affairs, about how much Washington values its relations with Beijing.