Towering over Shanghai

Shanghai's signature tower, the one and only: Oriental Pearl Tower

Shanghai World Financial Tower opened its doors some time end of last summer, August if I am not badly mistaken. We, and about 1,000,000 other Chinese wanted to visit the place. Due to some restricting factors, like for example that I have to work on weekdays, our options have pretty much been limited to the weekends.

If we are going to go through all the trouble getting there (it is on the other side of the town), we'd decided to pick a pretty and clear day. But once it came, we were off to the Tower. Which was a great idea, but someone else had thought about that too... The queue was so long we figured it would take at least 3 or 4 hours to get in. And once in, you'd propably be squeezed between all the enthusiastic Chinese. No thanks.

Firstly, we were optimistic and decided to try a little later, figuring the first weeks are the worst.

But every time we went back, there were more people than in the Shanghai railway station just before Chinese New Year. So we figured we would have to get there really really early one Saturday morning.

There were many weeks that brough us nothing but cloudy mornings. Then there were weekends I could not get that man of mine out of the bed before it was too late.

So, by early this year we still had not visited the new tower. We'd been to the Jin Mao Tower, which is just beside the new tower, but not quite as tall, and, of course, not as new. So while Jin Mao Tower offers you views from 88th floor, is now comfortable in respect of the crowds, you can get in without queuing, no one wants to go there. Poor old Jin Mao. Actually we took my mother there when she visited, as the queu to the other tower was... longish.

In March when my friend was visiting we decided we have to get her to visit the g** d*** tower. But again, whether was not on our side. Finally we went there on one Friday evening. No queuing at all and the night views were beautiful. I warmly recommend. Taking good photos, however, is difficult, as the windows are bound to reflect...

View from the Tower.

View from the foot of the Tower.

Jin Mao Tower in front, SWFC Tower behind it

There were no queues, but there were still people there. And from what I gathered, mostly Chinese tourists. Why do I thinks so? Well, because they looked Chinese and because many of them were secretly taking photos of us. Not very well secretly, as I noticed what they were doing, but nonetheless. Couple of young men came to ask if they could take a pictures with us. And then some one else came. And then a group of girls. I started to think they took us for someone else. Like, I don't know, someone worth photoing, maybe. ("Photoing" propably doesn't qualify as a word, does it?)

I wonder what they will tell they friends about this picture? "And here we are in Shanghai with two... well, two... two westeners."