Photo adjustments
Wikimedia thumbnail; fitted to the ranking-card frame.
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About Oriental Pearl Tower
Its futuristic arrangement of spheres and supporting columns made it one of the city’s most recognizable television towers.
The architecture can be understood from the surrounding public space before any paid visit inside. Elevated viewing areas give a different perspective on the river and the historic western bank. Choose the particular viewing product offered for your date rather than relying on old lists of floors, attractions or ticket combinations.
Planning for a new television tower in Shanghai began with an August 1983 broadcast proposing it to increase broadcast capacity and replace older infrastructure, and the plan was refined that November at a planned height of 400 metres. The city congress approved a site in the rapidly developing Lujiazui area in March 1984. The tower was built between 1991 and 1994 and was the tallest structure in China until 2007.
The tower's top floor stands at 351 metres, and with its 137-metre antenna it reaches 468 metres; it remained the tallest freestanding structure in China and Asia until surpassed by the Canton Tower in Guangzhou in 2007. Because of the area's soft soil, large concrete pillars were sunk deep into the ground and reinforced with steel pipes and plates. Three large spherical platforms, connected by pillars and an elevator, were built on a steel framework covered with concrete tiles and laminated red glass panes, an arrangement its designers said was inspired by the Tang poet Bai Juyi's poem 'Pipa xing'.
The tower was Shanghai's first AAAAA-rated tourist attraction. It has fifteen observation levels; the lower ones house a revolving restaurant, an indoor roller coaster and museums, and several levels, including the highest, have panoramic glass floors. A twenty-room hotel, the Space Hotel, sits between two of the large spheres.
What to look for
- Spherical volumes and prominent supporting columns define the tower’s silhouette.
- The Lujiazui riverbank setting faces the Bund across the Huangpu.
The surrounding area
A large district containing major museums and the tower skyline. A hotel near one attraction may still be far from another.
Location & getting there
Getting to Oriental Pearl Tower
Approach the tower in Lujiazui near the Huangpu riverfront; Lujiazui station is the local rail reference for the area. Confirm the tower entrance and the specific viewing product you booked.
Combine your visit
A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.
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Tower exterior
Start with the spheres and support structure from ground level.
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Booked elevated viewing area
Compare the riverfront and city from the selected viewing level.
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Shanghai Ocean Aquarium上海海洋水族馆
Add a separate nearby indoor visit if its current admission arrangements fit your plan.
This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.
Find Oriental Pearl Tower
东方明珠 · 浦东新区
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Shanghai Ocean Aquarium 上海海洋水族馆
Less than 1 km awayShanghai Ocean Aquarium is an indoor aquatic attraction in Lujiazui. Its exhibits use geographic zones alongside an underwater tunnel sequence.
View guide →Huangpu Park 黄浦公园
Less than 1 km awayHuangpu Park occupies the triangular green space at the northern end of the Bund, between the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek. Its origins lie in the treaty-port Public Garden, later reshaped as a commemorative riverfront park.
View guide →Shanghai Tower 上海中心大厦
Less than 1 km awayShanghai Tower rises beside Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center in Lujiazui. Gensler’s design divides the skyscraper into stacked zones for different uses, with public sightseeing spaces high above the river.
View guide →Sources & visit information
The linked encyclopedia sources support background and place descriptions. Current opening hours, ticket prices, booking rules and transport schedules have not been independently verified for this guide. Confirm them with the venue or operator before travelling.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Oriental Pearl Tower” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1357282250.
Background paragraphs condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "Oriental Pearl Tower", English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1357282250.