The Oriental Pearl Radio----the Second in Height in the World

The Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower (Chinese: 东方明珠塔) is a Tv tower in Shanghai, China. Its location at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund, makes it a distinct landmark in the area.

With a height of 468 meters, the Oriental Pearl Tower ranks the second in Asia and the fourth in the world in height, merely behind Guangzhou New TV Tower, Canada's Toronto TV Tower and Moscow's Ostankino Television Tower. Although replaced by World Financial Centre as the tallest building of Shanghai, Oriental Pearl Tower is still standing erectly among those modern buildings complex in the Lujiazui area.

With Nanpu and Huangpu Bridge on its left and right side respectively, it looks like two dragons playing with a pearl. Together with the newly constructed Jinmao Tower and World Financial Centre, they reflect spectacular scenery of this international metropolis. The Oriental Pearl Tower has complex functions of observation, catering, shopping, entertainment, Huangpu River touring, meeting and exhibition, history display, travel agent, etc. All of these make it one of Shanghai's representative buildings and scenic spots. Now, it ranks the second only to France's Eiffel Tower in terms of touring population and revenue, numbering among world renowned tourist attractions.

Depending on its high-speed elevator shuttling among three nine meters giant pillars and the world's first 360 degree completely transparent three-track sightseeing elevator, the Oriental Pearl Tower gives every tourist a feeling of enjoying the endless vista brought by modern technology. With great fantasy, the designer make 11 different sized spheres scattered high and low fallowing from the blue sky to the green lawn. Highly propped up by two huge ruby-like eye-catching balls, the Oriental Pearl Tower creates an atmosphere of pearls, small and large, falling into a jade plate. In February 1994, the former president Jiang Zemin gave the title "Oriental Pearl Broadcasting & TV Tower" to the tower.

 

Standing on the tower and having a bird-eye look of Shanghai, you will feel that the whole city looks just like building blocks made arena by some architects whose wisdom are undoubtedly amazing. The city extends the height of human being and brings them together. This land constructed with steel rods and cement is destroying our surviving environment while protecting us.

Its principal designers were Jiang Huan Chen, Lin Benlin, and Zhang Xiulin. Construction began in 1991, and the tower was completed in 1994. 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. It is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration.
For more information, please visit http://top-chinatour.com