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Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai, China
The first site to be seen in Shanghai was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, we took an elevator up the Sightseeing Floor (295 feet above ground). James and I walked around the deck for about 15 minutes and then met up with the rest of the group to jump on another elevator which would take us to the Space Module (863 feet above ground).
The Space Module level was by far the most fun level because the floor was made of glass. Seeming the ground below me was pretty nerve-racking but it gave me a small adrenaline rush so I started enjoying it. James wasn't too thrilled about the whole thing and chose to stand on the metal beams vice the glass floor. To freak him out I jumped up and down several times pretty hard to show him it wouldn't break. He responded with a nervous look on his face and was somewhat revealed when I stepped back onto the normal tile floor.
From the Space Module Level it became apparent that Shanghai is under much heavy construction. In fact, the
cranes here are jokingly called "birds" and the Pudong District was believed to contain half the world's cranes in the early 1990s when the city began to rapidly rebuild and modernize. I would imagine that Shanghai was pretty drab and dreary during the years when China was cut off economically from the rest of the world. However, the Shanghai of today is well on it's way to fulfilling it's nickname of "The Pearl of the Orient" or "The Paris of the East" that is earned during the decadence of the city during the 1930s.
So what do the people of Shanghai think about the Oriental Pearl TV Tower? It's a mix of pride and disgust from what I can gather. While they are proud of it being the 4th tallest concrete tower in the world, most also believe it is tacky and rather hastily built (From reading "The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester I found out the "When funds ran low the city government created a private company to run the tower, and floated shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Hotel rooms inside the larger pearls will produce, the owners trust, enough of a
profit to keep the investors - the Shanghai public - at least happy enough not to want to storm the structure and tear it down.").
Here's a couple quick facts from Wikipedia about the tower:
The Oriental Pearl Tower (Chinese: 东方明珠塔; pinyin: Dōngfāng Míngzhūtǎ, official name: 东方明珠电视塔) is a TV tower in Shanghai, China. The Oriental Pearl Tower is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district, by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund of Shanghai.
It was designed by Jiang Huan Cheng of the Shanghai Modern Architectural Design Co. Ltd. Construction began in 1991 and the tower was completed in 1995. At 468 m (1,535 feet) high, it was the tallest structure in China from 1994-2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center. The Oriental Pearl Tower belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers. On 7 July 2007, Oriental Pearl Tower was host to the Chinese Live Earth concert.
The Pearl Tower attracts over three million visitors each year.
The tower features 11 spheres, big and small. The two biggest spheres, along the length of the tower, have diameters of 50 m (164 ft) for the lower
James at the Observation Deck
He didn't want to stand on the glass....I jumped up and down on it several times to freak him out. and 45 m (148 ft) for the upper. They are linked by three columns, each 9 m (30 ft) in diameter. The highest sphere is 14 m (46 ft) in diameter.
The entire building is supported by three enormous columns that start underground.
Outdoor observation deck built in May 2009 featuring a glass floor. The tower has fifteen observatory levels. The highest (known as the Space Module) is at 350 m (1148 ft). The lower levels are at 263 m (863 ft) (Sightseeing Floor) and at 90 m (295 ft) (Space City). There is a revolving restaurant at the 267 m (876 ft) level. The project also contains exhibition facilities, restaurants and a shopping mall. There is also a 20-room hotel called the Space Hotel between the two large spheres.
An antenna, broadcasting TV and radio programs, extends the construction by another 118 m (387 ft) to a total height of 468 metres (1,535 ft). On April 13, 2010 the antenna at the top of the 468m tower caught fire at around 2 am. The fire was then put out by firefighters. Prior to the fire there were a series of thunderstorms
The design of the
Me reassuring James
Laughing about me jumping up and down on the glass floor to prove it wouldn't break. building said to be based on a verse of the Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Song by Bai Juyi about the wonderful sprinkling sound of a pipa instrument, like pearls, big and small falling on a jade plate (大珠小珠落玉盘/大珠小珠落玉盤/dà zhū xiǎo zhū luò yù pán). However, the designer Jiang Huancheng says that he did not have the poem in mind when designing the tower. It was the chief of the jury board who said it reminded him of that poem.
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Eric
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I enjoyed your China post. It made me want to go there. My blog is looking for travel photos and food reviews. If you have time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com and check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric