Oriental Pearl Tower 东方明珠塔

Ever since Shanghai started its drive to modernization, one structure has stood as the symbol of Shanghai and also of modern China. It is the Oriental Pearl Tower 东方明珠塔 which greets visitors upon their entry into Shanghai. For more than ten years it was the tallest structure in the entire country until it was surpassed by the nearby Shanghai World Financial Center. The design of the tower is quite unique and I can say it is quite Chinese and very communist. The tower is primarily composed of several spheres some of which house the requisite revolving restaurant and viewing deck.

At night, the tower glows with multicolored lights in true gaudy Chinese fashion. I used to marvel at the structure and even attempted to help someone build that as a school project (It didn’t turn out very well). However, as I look at it, I realize that I really didn’t like the design of the tower. It wasn’t really that inspiring and the design itself is a little dated. I didn’t bother going to the viewing deck, though I didn’t really know whether it was still open at that time of the night.

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