Sunday, November 30, 2014

Jiangnan: Shanghai Skyscrapers

When we visited Shanghai in April last year, we were told that Shanghai Tower would be completed by 2014 (Read here). During our recent visit to Shanghai in September 2014, its whole structure has been completed. Opening is expected in early 2015. It is indeed a major achievement to have such a massive project completed in just over six years.

Human ingenuity and technological advancement has truly changed the way people erect tall structures.The Great Pyramid of Khufu, the tallest pyramid in ancient Egypt which now stands at 455 feet (138.8m) took 23 years to build. It has a footprint of 55,000 sq m compared to just 30,370 sq. m for Shanghai Tower. Tall structures now are much slenderer!

Shanghai Tower once completed will be the second tallest building at 2,073 feet (632m) high. It is still significantly lower than the highest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai which stands at 828m.

The opening of Shanghai Tower in 2015 will complete the development of Lujaizui Finance and Trade District of Pudong. Shanghai World Financial Centre stands at the east while Jin Mao Tower at the north.

Shanghai Tower

Shanghai World Financial Centre, many people call it the "Bottle Opener" because of the opening at the top of the structure.

In April 2013, we paid to access the Observation Deck at the 97th Floor (439 m) to have a bird eye view of Shanghai by night. This time, we had a bird eye view of Shanghai by day, a different visual experience.

Jin Mao Tower

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The night cruise in Huangpu River allowed us to have a spectacular view of the skyscrapers in Pudong.

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