Big Things in a Big City - An Article by Tripbase

Chris Zwierzynski, from Tripbase.com shares some expert advice on big things in a big city. If planning an Asia vacation,

Shanghai just so happens to be one of the largest metropolitan areas on the entire planet, its sprawling concrete and urban jungles housing roughly 20 million people. That’s over 2,700 people per km2 (or over 7,000 per square mile, if you prefer), which is an awful lot of people. Understandably, available space is a commodity and with expansion outward not particularly being an option, the only viable thing left to do would be to expand upwards, building gargantuan monoliths to inhabit and/or use for business purposes, one of which was even the second tallest building in the world at one point. Read on to learn a little more about these testaments to the determination of an urban environment and its denizens.

Shanghai World Financial Center – Cannily converted to the acronym SWFC, is a gigantic multi-purpose skyscraper that reaches a magnificent 492m (1,614ft) and houses a whole bunch of useful things such as hotels, conference rooms, offices, the obligatory observation decks as well as shopping malls. The hotel inside is actually the Park Hyatt Shanghai, the highest hotel in the world, which – consisting of 174 rooms on the 79th to 93rd floors – is extremely high up indeed and certainly not recommended for sufferers of vertigo. Currently the third-tallest building in the world, the SWFC is still awesome in the proper sense of the word as well as being the tallest building in China.

Jin Mao Tower – “Weighing” in at 421m (1,381ft), the Jin Mao Tower is the third-tallest in China and subsequently the second-tallest in Shanghai. The function of the Jin Mao is similar to that of the aforementioned SWFC in that it houses offices, hotels, conference facilities, observations decks and retail services in and amongst its 88 floors. The hotel is of particular note, as it is the Grand Hyatt hotel and the second highest (after the Park Hyatt in the SWFC) hotel in the world and occupying floors 53 to 87 (555 rooms) with numerous clubs, restaurants, bars, cafes and the like to keep its guests occupied and otherwise entertained.

Shimao International Plaza – At 333m (1,093ft), it might not be as grandiose as its brethren, but the Shimao International Plaza is still an almighty sight to behold. Its 60 floors play home to the standard office, retail and hotel outlets that one has come to expect of really, really big buildings these days, with the top 48 floors being the hotel aspect of the place. The hotel is – of course – a five-star affair, luxuriously titled Le Royal Méridien and is complemented by the further 9 floors of shopping mall(s) to satisfy all of the retail therapy needs of its occupants.

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(above) Shanghai World Financial Center

 

(above) Jin Mao Tower

(above) Shimao International Plaza

Comments

[Bo i Shanghai]

Yes those skyscrapers are impressive. Not been up the SWFC, but I have been up Jin Mao.