Step into a super-speedy lift for an ear-popping 45-second ascent to pink globes balancing on a 468m-tall tripod. Easily the most distinctive modern building in the city, the fantastical Oriental Pearl TV Tower (东方明珠广播电视塔, Dōngfāng Míngzhū Guǎngbō Diànshì Tǎ; 1 Century Ave, 世纪大道1号) is a must visit.
Viewing Platforms
There are two main viewing galleries in the tower – the Middle Ball (usually visited first), a 263m-high sightseeing floor with 360-degree views of the city, and the Transparent Observatory (not for vertigo sufferers), which is one of the world's only 360-degree circular see-through walkways. It stands 259m over the roads below – some say it's like walking on air. From here, staring at the seemingly endless concrete metropolis beyond is a humbling experience – a chance to see how vast and dense Shanghai is.
One of the most popular photo spots is in front of the view of the China Ping An Financial Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center (the world's largest flat-roofed building at 492m), the pagoda-shaped Jinmao Tower (420m) and the Shanghai Center (632m). Across the Huangpu River, visitors can get an unobstructed view of the historic Bund. Information boards surround the entire viewing gallery and match up the most significant structures in the distance.
Shanghai History Museum
Ticket entry includes a visit to this engaging six-hall museum on the ground floor of the tower, which outlines the city's urban history and development, starting as a primitive village 6000 years ago and growing into the third-biggest city on Earth (after Tokyo and Delhi). Immersive models and scenes include more than 1000 artifacts and 100 waxwork figures, plus primitive transport, from rickshaws to full-sized vintage cars from the 20th century, including an early trolley car and bus.
Walk the atmospheric corridors filled with scenes of early trades, blacksmiths and wheelbarrow makers, before Shanghai's treaty port opened and foreigners forever changed the city. Westerners contributed everything from mixed courts (a semi-colonial structure, with Chinese and western judges) and architectural styles (see displays on shíkùmén) to opium – a mock opium den depicts how it was smoked. Impressive historic photographs can be viewed throughout. Take note of images of the original hidden villas around the former French Concession area, then search them out on a walking tour of the area. Don't miss the awesome miniature vintage model of old East Nanjing Rd, complete with little vintage cars and lit-up windows and billboards.
Side Attractions
Other floors include the Space Capsule Sightseeing Floor, which sits higher up, inside the third and smallest pink ball. Decked out like a spaceship, it’s a novelty experience, but costs an additional fee (purchasable in advance) for a very similar, but slightly higher view from 351m up.
Game City, 98m up, is an arcade with classic games like basketball hoops, plus a virtual-reality roller coaster. Wear a headset while riding on a moving car around the room while a virtual-reality video sends you flying through the clouds, between some of Shanghai’s famous buildings and through the middle of the bottle-opener hole of the Shanghai World Financial Center. The next-door 5D cinema, meanwhile, sends visitors to the bottom of the ocean via a seven-minute ride, with fish, sharks and a whale that swallows you whole. The "5D" aspect is a bit of a stretch – it involves bubbles coming down from the ceiling.
Fuel Up
On the lower floor of the tower you'll find snack and gift shops selling Pearl Tower–shaped ice creams and Pearl Tower–shaped bottles of water. City Plaza outside has a branch of the excellent Yang's Fry Dumplings. Meanwhile, Asia's highest revolving restaurant (in the pink middle ball) is a two-hour experience with a Chinese and western buffet and a slowly rotating floor (book at least a day in advance).
