Oriental Pearl TV Tower

The Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower () is a TV tower in Shanghai. Its location at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong New Area by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund, makes it a distinct landmark in the area. Its principal designers were Jiang Huan Chen, Lin Benlin, and Zhang Xiulin. Construction began on July 30, 1991, and the tower was completed on October 1, 1994, and put into use on May 1, 1995. As of October 2022, it is the sixth tallest building in Asia, and the ninth tallest around the world.

History

Planning

On August 25, 1983, the idea of building a new TV tower was first brought up in a broadcast considering the overwhelming situation of the existing TV transmission tower at that time. On November 17 of the same year, a clear thought of building a TV tower of approximately 400 meters high around Lujiazui area was presented in "The Sixth Five-Year Plan and Seventh Five-Year Plan for the Development of Shanghai's Radio and Television Industry and the Vision for the Next Ten Years."

On March 25, 1984, the proposal of building the new TV tower is officially made in the Congress report. Later in 1984, the proposal was approved. After repeated investigation and research, the site location was finalized to between Lujiazui and Pudong Park, with the consideration of echoing with the Bund on the other side of Huangpu River.

On August 23, 1984, the Shanghai Radio and Television Bureau officially made the site selection report. In October 1986, the report was finalized and submitted to the National Planning Commission, with the building height initially set at 450 meters. In January 1987, the report was approved. In January 1988, the Shanghai Radio and Television Bureau submitted a feasibility report for the TV tower and got approved in July.

In May 1988, three top design institutes in China were invited to participate in a design contest for the TV tower. In September 1988, a total of 12 designs were submitted and evaluated, and the "Oriental Pearl" design from East China Architectural Design Institute was finally chosen. With the consideration of the location and historical role of the tower, the designer chose to connect 15 spheres of different sizes with pillars as the main tower body. The artistic conception came from the sentence "big and small pearls falling on a jade plate(大珠小珠落玉盘)" of a poem "Pi Pa Xing(琵琶行)" by Bai Juyi, intended to emphasize the oriental cultural atmosphere and the artistic sentiment of Shanghai.

Construction

On July 30, 1991, the foundation of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower was officially laid and the construction started.

On December 14, 1993, the 350-meter 3-D structure (excluding the antenna) was capped. The construction only took 27 months, which is 105 days prior to the expected date. At 12:12 a.m. on May 1, 1994, world's first steel antenna with a length of 110 meters and a weight of 450 tons was successfully installed in position after 11 days of ascension.

On October 1, 1994, the ground floor lobby decoration was completed. The sightseeing facilities and main light system started operating. The construction of Oriental Pearl TV Tower was officially completed.

20th Century

On May 1, 1995, the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower was held and it is officially opened to the public. The first signal was launched, and it first broadcast 5 sets of TV programs and 5 sets of FM radios to the public.

In 1995, 15 foreign heads of government visited the tower. At the end of the year, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower was rated as one of the Top Ten New Landscapes in Shanghai.

In 1996, another 35 foreign heads of government and 30 groups of foreign minister-level government officials visited the tower.

In 1999, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower won the first prize of Shanghai Excellence of Design Award and China Civil Engineering Zhan Tianyou Award.

21th Century

In May 2001, the Shanghai Urban History Development Exhibition Hall was opened at ground level of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

In 2004, the tower carried out an energy-saving transformation on the light system, replacing the old source with light-emitting diodes.

On May 8, 2007, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower was approved by the National Tourism Administration as a National AAAAA-level Tourist Attraction.

On January 6, 2020, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower was rated as one of the Top Ten New Landmarks in Shanghai by the China Architectural Culture Research Association.

Observation levels

The tower has fifteen observatory levels. The highest (known as the Space Module) is at 351 m (1148 ft). The lower levels are at 263 m (863 ft) (Sightseeing Floor) and at 90 m (295 ft) (Space City). There is a revolving restaurant at the 267 m (876 ft) level. The project also contains exhibition facilities and a small shopping center. There is also a 20-room hotel called the Space Hotel between the two large spheres. The upper observation platform has an outside area with a 1.5 inch glass floor.

Replicas

A roughly 10-story tall replica exists in Parun, Afghanistan.

Gallery

File:The Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower at night.jpg, The Oriental Pearl tower at night
File:Shanghai Skyline from a tour boat (Pudong).jpg, The tower is illuminated every evening
File:Shanghai-JE3.jpg, Panoramic view of Oriental Pearl Tower
File:Oriental Pearl Tower.JPG, Looking up at the Oriental Pearl Tower
File:20090427 5361 Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower.jpg, Oriental Pearl Tower in the evening
File:Oriental pearl tower.jpg, Oriental Pearl Tower panorama in the evening

Night view

File:Shanghai, night, towers.JPG, Oriental Pearl at night
File:Shanghaipudong.jpg, Oriental Pearl and night view of Pudong
File:Oriental Pearl in the cloud at night from street level.JPG, Oriental Pearl in the clouds at night
File:orientalpearl-c.jpg, The Oriental Pearl at night (the second tallest building is the Jin Mao Tower
File:Oriental Pearl at night color.jpg, Oriental Pearl Tower

See also

* List of tallest buildings in Shanghai
* List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
* List of the world's tallest structures
* List of towers

References

External links

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AAAAA-rated tourist attractions
Buildings and structures in Shanghai
Towers with revolving restaurants
Contemporary Chinese architecture
Landmarks in Shanghai
Observation towers in China
Skyscrapers in Shanghai
Towers completed in 1994
Tourist attractions in Shanghai
Skyscraper hotels in Shanghai
1994 establishments in China