China Expedition Tours Travel Blogs

January 16, 2020

Shanghai Tower, the Tallest Skyscraper in Shanghai

By Cassidy Tse inPopular Spots Tag chinese calendar, panda movies, shanghai weather, the great wall of china

Shanghai tower is located in Lujiazui finance and trade zone, Pudong. It is the tallest building in China, second only to the world. It covers an area of 30,368 square meters, with a construction area of about 576,000 square meters, including 5 floors of basement, 127 floors above ground and 5 floors of podium.

For visitors, a visit to the Shanghai tower would be incomplete without the world’s highest indoor observation deck, the “top of the Shanghai observatory.” From this height, you can enjoy a unique panorama of the Huangpu river, the bund to the west, and several other skyscrapers, such as the Jinmao tower and the world financial center on the east bank. Visitors are advised to visit the B1 exhibition hall and then take the express elevator to the 118th floor, which only takes 55 seconds. Finally, if time permits, visit the exhibition “Shanghai eye” on the 125th and 126th floors.

The skyscraper’s foundation is important because Shanghai is located in an inactive seismic zone and the construction site is in the Yangtze river valley. To reinforce the ground, engineers first placed 980 foundation piles 86 meters underground, then poured 61,000 cubic meters of concrete to install a 6-meter floor to secure the main building.

The outside of the building spiraled like a snake. Each floor rotates by one degree to counteract the force of the wind high above. This is very important for super tall buildings in Shanghai to withstand frequent typhoons.

The tower has two glass facades, one inside and one outside, like overlapping “pipes”. The space between the two “pipes” is from 1 to 10 meters wide, providing more public space inside the building. At the same time, the space is like an insulating layer, like a vacuum flask. It’s environmentally friendly and it costs less.

As a complex super-tall building, the building is subdivided into five main functional areas: 24-hour offices for multinational corporations and financial services; Super five-star hotel and supporting facilities, providing personalized services and supporting facilities; High-end retail stores, etc. The leisure and entertainment area, which forms a new commercial and cultural center in the city, is obviously different from the ghost town image of lujiazui after work. Conference facilities, including sightseeing rooms on the upper level, a multi-purpose convention center of more than 2,000 square meters, and a multi-purpose banquet hall of more than 1,000 square meters are located in the podium building.

January 16, 2020

Nanjing Road, a Century-old Shopping Street

By Cassidy Tse inPopular Spots Tag beijing, Chinese dragon, chinese new year 2019, guangzhou

China’s premier shopping street, 5.5km (3.4-mile) Nanjing road, stretches from the bund in the east to the intersection of jing ‘an temple and xi yan ‘an street in the west. Today, it is a must-see metropolitan destination, attracting thousands of fashion-conscious shoppers from around the world.

Nanjing road, a century-old street in Shanghai’s huangpu district, bears witness to the city’s history. Over time, it has been reorganized and has undergone significant changes. Large traditional stores no longer dominate the market, as modern shopping malls, specialty stores, theaters and international hotels have sprung up along the streets. To facilitate shopping, there is an all-weather pedestrian playground in the eastern district.

There are more than 600 shops on the road, offering countless famous products of high quality and fashionable style. Upscale stores include tiffany, montblanc, omega and dunhill. About 100 traditional shops and specialty stores offer fine silk, jade, embroidery, wool and clocks. People who like to shop will indulge in the pleasure of shopping.

There are many traditional food stores with a history of 100 years in Nanjing road. Here, you can not only taste the most authentic Shanghai cuisine, but also buy some for your friends and family as gifts.

It was an unforgettable experience taking the old dangdang tram from 8:30 to 22:00 every day. On the slow train, you can see all kinds of shops outside the window, old or new, leaving your view one by one, just like history. The one-way trip will take about 10 minutes and you will have to pay 5 RMB for it.

Flashing neon lights illuminate the magnificent buildings and illuminate the night sky of this vibrant city. Outdoor bars, abstract sculptures and the long music of street musicians make the evening stroll more enjoyable.

Nanjing road in Shanghai consists of east Nanjing road and west Nanjing road, with xizang road in the middle. Nanjing east road is relatively busy because of its proximity to the bund, a Shanghai landmark. Visitors can choose to walk along the whole road or choose a portion of it according to physical strength and time.

January 16, 2020

Jin Mao Tower, the Third Tallest Skyscraper in Shanghai

By Cassidy Tse inPopular Spots Tag chengdu, chinese zodiac signs, hangzhou, Qing Dynasty, year of the pig

Located in the lujiazui financial and trade zone center of pudong new area, Jin Mao tower is the third tallest building in Shanghai after Shanghai tower and Shanghai world financial center. From puxi (west of the hung-pu river) by tunnel (about 2 minutes by car) or from hongqiao, pudong international airport (about 30 minutes by car).

The 88-story Jin Mao tower was completed in 1999. It stands 420.5 meters (about 1,380 feet) tall and covers 2.3 hectares (5.68 acres). The skyscraper’s architect, Adrian d. Smith, skillfully combined elements of traditional Chinese culture with the latest architectural styles of the time, making it one of the best built buildings in China.

The building includes modern offices, a luxury five-star hotel, the grand hyatt Shanghai, exhibition halls, banquet halls, observation decks and entertainment facilities on the following floors: the first and second floors form a spectacular and bright business lobby; Office rooms from 3 to 50 floors; The 51st and 52nd floors are mechanical and electrical facilities centers with limited staff; Floors 53 to 87 are reserved for the grand hyatt hotel, floor 86 is the exclusive club for hotel guests, floor 87 is the hotel restaurant; The 88th floor, the tallest, is the observation deck of the tower, which can hold 1,000 people at a time.

This tower has the best elevator. The two direct lifts travel at 9.1 meters (nearly 30 feet) per second, from the ground floor to the 88th floor in just 45 seconds. There are five or six elevators on every 10 floors, reducing waiting times to 35 seconds even during rush hours.

The tower has a six-story annex containing exhibition halls, meeting rooms, a multipurpose hall, a grand ballroom and an entertainment center.

The tower’s basement is a three-story car park that can hold 800 cars and 2,000 bicycles. The parking lot is equipped with 360-degree surveillance cameras as a security feature of the building.

January 16, 2020

Huangpu River, a Landmark of Shanghai

By Cassidy Tse inPopular Spots Tag chinese calendar, lantern festival, panda movies, shanghai weather, the great wall of china

The Huangpu river is a landmark of Shanghai, dividing the city into Pudong and Puxi. It is 113 kilometers (70 miles) long and 300-770 meters (984-2,526 feet) wide, flowing through more than 10 districts of the city. It is regarded as the mother river of Shanghai, with functions such as drinking water, shipping, drainage, fishing and tourism. In order to provide better transportation conditions, submarine tunnels and Bridges have been built under and above the river. On both sides of the river, there are buildings of various styles and important scenery. Famous scenic spots such as the bund and lujiazui finance and trade zone are located here.

To enjoy the scenery along the river, the bund on the west bank and binjiang avenue on the east bank are the two best places in the city. Binjiang avenue is less crowded, but the bund is more beautiful. On the bund, there is a group of historic buildings along the road. It is made up of a large number of western-style buildings built about 100 years ago, when Shanghai was home to a large number of foreign immigrants. The east bank of pudong is a tall and modern building built in recent decades. Pudong has become an important financial and commercial center for Shanghai and even for China. The contrast between the skyscrapers of the east and the classical architecture of the west is striking, and you can see the development of the city over the past century.

There are two Bridges across the river: yangpu bridge and Nanpu Bridge, like two dragons lying across the water. Between the two Bridges stands the Oriental pearl tower. From a bird’s eye view, the whole picture looks like two dragons playing with a pearl, which is one of the unique features of the river. Another famous bridge across the river is the waibaidu bridge at the junction of the Huangpu river and Suzhou river. It is the largest iron bridge in downtown Shanghai. The bridge has a history of hundreds of years and bears witness to the development of the city. In many old movies and photos, you can see the image of the bridge.

In Wusong mouth, there is a special scene: three color water. It is where the Huangpu and Yangtze rivers meet and flow into the east China sea. The water of the Huangpu river in the urban area is steel gray, the water of the Yangtze river is yellow and sandy yellow, and the water of the east China sea is green.

The best way to see the Huangpu river is by boat, especially at night. During the roughly 50-minute trip, you can enjoy the views of the river from the cruise ship. At night, brightly lit, dotted with different styles of buildings on both sides of the river, presenting a different beauty. If you don’t want to spend too much time on a cruise ship, you can also take a quick ferry trip between pudong and puxi, about 15 minutes each way.

January 16, 2020

China Built the World’s Deepest High Speed Railway Station under the Great Wall

By Cassidy Tse inTravel News Tag chengdu, Forbidden City, palm reading, Qing Dynasty, year of the dog

China opened the world’s deepest high-speed rail station, the badaling Great Wall railway station, on Dec. 30, adopting a new Chinese train schedule. With an elevation of 102 meters (335 feet) below the surface, badaling Great Wall station has a total construction area of 49,000 square meters (527,432 sq. Ft), a ground station of 9,000 square meters (96875 sq. Ft) and an underground station of 40,500 sq. Ft (435,938 sq. Ft), making it the world’s largest high-speed rail station underground.

The station is just 200 meters (656 feet) from the Badaling Great Wall, the most famous in China. Travelers can walk to the Great Wall Ropeway station in about two minutes. From downtown Beijing, Qinghe railway station is only 20 minutes away, and Beijing north railway station is only 30 minutes away. The high-speed train is the fastest and best way to visit the Badaling Great Wall.
The world’s deepest high-speed railway station also has a breathtaking 84-meter (276-foot) escalator that gives passengers the feeling of crossing the earth. It is about 42 meters (138 feet) high, the height of a 14-story building. Starting from January 1, 2020, 5 pairs of trains will depart from Beijing north railway station at 6:40, 2 pairs from Beijing Qinghe railway station at 7:25, and the Great Wall at Badaling. It’s about 35 minutes north of Beijing and only 19 minutes from Qinghe. First class fares are 46 yuan and 44 yuan, while second class fares are 29 yuan and 27 yuan.