The Oriental Pearl (4/17/2011)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Ha! Today is sunny! So we'll try going up to an observation deck in the sky.

But first we took the Metro to the Bund. To cross the Huangpu River, we took the much touted and much maligned Bund Sightseeing Tunnel.

The escalator down to the ticket office did make it look like we were going underwater:

Paid the exorbitant fee of 45 yuan each (about $7), and boarded a submarine module:

Off we went on a 4/10 of a mile ride through a neon and laser light show:

The theme was roughly going to the middle of the earth and back, with molten lava and the sea...

Popped up in Pudong, which was very recently agricultural land with peasant shacks. Now there is nothing left of the old. This is the newest district of Shanghai in more ways than one.

The Shanghai International Convention Center:

The Oriental Pearl TV and Radio Tower:

Completed in 1995, it was the first modern tower on this side of the river. At 468m/1,500 feet, it is no longer the tallest thing in Pudong, but it remains the iconic symbol of modern Shanghai. And it is still the tallest TV tower in Asia, and third tallest in the world.
Petunias:

Icicle lights in the trees:

Aargh - still can't get the whole thing in one picture!

Lujiazui Circle:

It looked like they were trimming the tops off the hedges and covering them with black tarp...

A view towards more skyscrapers, the tallest on the left is the Bank of China Tower (2000, 18th tallest in Shanghai): 

A small Thai shrine in front of the Super Brands Mall:

The Huaxia Bank Tower (1998) and the Oriental Pearl Tower:

We had lunch at the blue frog:

From the circular pedestrian walkway over Lujiazui Circle, the two tallest buildings in Shanghai:

The one in front is the Jin Mao Tower (1998), the 2nd tallest, and the one behind is the Shanghai World Financial Center (2008), the tallest building in China with the highest observation deck in the world. Locally the latter is known as the Bottle Opener.
The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium:

But we were going to the Oriental Pearl. Here is the entrance plaza:

After long waits in long lines, we made it to the Space Capsule, the top bead, at 350m/1,148 feet. It was a bit hazy up here, and the lower half of the windows were tinted pink.

Lookedd down on the Shanghai International Finance Center North (2011) and South (2009) Towers, which are the 11th and 14th tallest buildings in Shanghai:

We are standing in front of the Bottle Opener:

The two tallest from the Space Capsule:

Looking down the Huangpu River:

Where the Suzhou Creek meets the Huangpu River at the end of the Bund:

The Bund:

The Space Cabin, or Space Capsule at 350m:

Took the elevator down to the middle sphere at 263m/863 feet.
View upriver with the Super Brands Mall in the foreground:

The two tallest from the middle bead:

Someone is up in the ceiling!

Ferry dock:

We went down a level (still in the middle sphere, and found the glassed in observation deck, oh my!

Huh?

Note the guy holding his leg so he won't fall!

Peace?

Looking straight down the Oriental Pearl Tower itself:

The lower sphere at 90m/295 feet was an amusement arcade, and even had a roller coaster. When you are that high, you don't especially want to hear a rumbling sound, but as long as you knew it was the roller coaster...
We found an outdoor observation deck; view of the International Convention Center and the Bund across the river:

Window washing crew:

Do they trust those knots?!

The building of a thousand columns, Ping'an Financial Center:

The 50th tallest building in Shanghai.

A cluster of tall buildings including at least three in the top 20 tallest buildings in Shanghai:

At ground level, 0m/0 feet, there is the Shanghai Municipal History Museum, entered here:

A near life-size model of a trolley:

A Buick:

First car manufactured in Shanghai:

Ornate wedding palanquin:

Rickshaws:

Ha, ha! They have a sense of humor! A whole section on the fun activities of a farm family:

In the junque business:

Street of Old Shanghai, with wheelbarrow transport:

Merchant Guild:

Bamboo products:

Opium Den:

Then the "metropolis infested by foreign adventurers:"

Tianchan Theater:

One of the original lions that resided outside the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank on the Bund:

The Majestic Hotel: