Oriental Pearl Tower - Our Day with Daddy

Main globe has the sightseeing floor, observation deck, and
revolving restaurant.  The Space Station is the top globe at
350 meters high.  In between the two are five separate

 globes that serve as a hotel. 

On our first day out with Daddy, we visited the Pearl Tower and the Apple Store since Daddy had never been to either one.  As you can tell from the  picture, we had beautiful sunny skies. (Sorry for the picture being sideways, I don't know how to fix it on my blog.)

Our visit to the Pearl Tower was amazing.  It's main purpose is to be a TV tower, the tallest in Asia at 468 meters and third tallest in the world, but it's draw as a tourist destination is undeniable.  It was yet another steamy day in Shanghai so it was a fabulous day to spend inside and 350 meters in the air with about 2,000 people. 

Welcome to the Pearl Tower.  The first of many pictures.



 First, a side note.  We are quite the side show when we travel around Shanghai.  School children, older couples,  groups of women, families, it doesn't matter.  People from outside of Shanghai or other metropolitan areas in China rarely see folks with blond hair, blue eyes, or just tall, fat, sweaty people in general.  We get stopped by tourists more than we do hawkers wanting us to buy a bag.  We have decided that our children are just rock stars and we need to embrace that.  Emma Grace is on board, the little blond one is still getting comfortable with his rock star status.  So today, I decided to become part of the papparazi and take some pictures of people taking pictures of my children. I must admit that I still get an uneasy feeling when someone at the grocery store touches Robert's hair or Emma Grace's arm.  I hope that the feeling never goes away.  It is all pretty innocent.  I just don't want to get desensitized to total strangers approaching my children.

You see Robert still hasn't fully
embraced having "family" photos
taken with complete strangers.

Notice Blue Eyes parked up in the middle of the school group.
We just had to shove Robert  back in the picture. Oh, and in
any touristy picture, peace signs are a must.  At least I think
they mean the same thing in China.

 

Now, back to the business at hand.  The Pearl Tower has a sightseeing floor, observation deck, revolving restaurant, and a second sightseeing floor closer to the top. Of course there are gift shops and a salute to Coke underground.  The elevator ride to the first globe takes about 15 seconds.  The ride to the second globe takes about 10 seconds.  There is no personal space involved in these elevators.  If capacity is thirty six, there will be thirty-six people on that elevator. 


 Newer Shanghai architecture is very avant guarde and over the top in all ways imaginable.  They are rarely perfectly rectangular and have interesting rooflines.  Numerous building materials will be used and they are erected at an amazing pace.  And at night, they all light up with flashing signs or syncopated colored light shows.  They are truly a sight to behold. 



The World Financial Tower looks like a bottle opener.
Notice the three cranes on top of the building to the right.

Puxi Skyline from the Sightseeing Tower.



 

We live about an hour away, depending on traffic, to the
southwest.  There were eight barges working around the
bend.  I wish I could have gotten them all in the picture!
That is one busy river!

 

Spaghetti, pizza, and fruit for lunch in the revolving restaurant.
This is one of the few restaurants that provides forks,
knives, and spoons!! 

These pictures are various skyline pictures taken from two different points of view.  The World Financial Tower was taken from the Space Deck.  I even got a few pictures from the Observation Deck.

  Puxi is the west or old side of the river.  That is where we live.  The Pearl Tower is on the Pudong side which is the east or new side.



This picture was taken from the observation
deck that had a see-through floor.  The large
circle is an elevated pedestrian walkway.

See the glass cube with an apple on it?  That is the entrance to
the underground Apple store taken from the escalator.  It is adjacent
to the IFC Mall.  You won't find any Charlotte Russe, The Gap, or JCPenney in there.  Big Name brands are everything here.  Rob
wouldn't even let me window shop at Harry Winston in Xintiandi!



This is the same pedestrian walkway from ground level.  There are outdoor
escalators or steps that you can take.  It is the only way to cross the street
at this interection.  Traffic is pretty light in this photo.  The  (official) Apple
Store is in the right corner just below the walkway.