Shanghai from above: the Shanghai Tower, the World Financial Center, Jin Mao, the Pearl Tower and the free views compared
Which observation deck is worth it in Shanghai: height, price band, queues, booking, what you see and when, the glass floors, the Oriental Pearl's kitsch, the outdoor skywalk on Jin Mao, rooftop bars that cost a drink, the Bund-side rooftops, and the single best time of day to go up anything.
Every visitor goes up something in Shanghai, and most choose badly: the wrong tower, the wrong hour, the queue that eats an afternoon. The city has four major observation decks within a few hundred metres of each other in Lujiazui, a dozen bars with the same view for the price of a drink, and a few free vantage points that are better than people expect. This is the comparison, with the timing that matters more than the choice.
The four towers
| Tower | Deck height | What it is like | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Tower | 546 m, 118th floor | The world’s second-tallest building; the fastest lifts anywhere (55 seconds); a vast enclosed deck looking down on every other tower | The best view in the city; book online with a passport; go at dusk |
| Shanghai World Financial Center | 474 m, 100th floor | The “bottle opener”; a narrow sky bridge across the top with glass floor panels; also decks at 94 and 97 | The most vertiginous; quieter than the Tower; glass floor for the brave |
| Jin Mao Tower | 340 m, 88th floor | The 1990s pagoda-shaped tower; an indoor deck looking down the hotel’s famous atrium; an outdoor glass-walled skywalk on the 88th floor with a harness | The skywalk is the unique experience; the deck is the cheapest of the three |
| Oriental Pearl Tower | 259 m and 351 m spheres | The 1994 TV tower with the pink balls; glass-floor ring at 259 m; a revolving restaurant; a surprisingly good Shanghai history museum in the base | Kitsch, crowded, beloved by Chinese families; the glass floor and the museum are the reasons to go |
All four are in Lujiazui (metro line 2, Lujiazui station), all sell timed tickets online with a passport (a guide or hotel books), and all have queues at weekends and holidays that the timed ticket shortens but does not remove. Visibility is the variable: Shanghai’s haze can take the horizon away; the day after rain is clearest, and the rainy day guide explains why.
The one rule: dusk
Whatever you choose, book the slot that puts you at the top 40 minutes before sunset. You see the city in daylight, the sun go down over the Bund and the river, and the lights switch on across Pudong and Puxi, all from one visit; the Bund’s facades light up around dusk and the big displays run until ten. A midday visit shows haze and a flat city; a 9 pm visit shows lights without context. Sunset times: around 5 pm in December, 7 pm in June; check the day’s time and book accordingly, and allow for the queue at the security check.
Choosing between them
- First visit, one tower: the Shanghai Tower. It is the tallest, the deck is the most comfortable, and looking down on the Pearl Tower and the World Financial Center is the point.
- Thrill-seekers and teenagers: the World Financial Center’s glass-floor sky bridge, or Jin Mao’s outdoor skywalk, which is a harnessed walk on a ledge outside the 88th floor and the one that produces screams.
- Families with small children: the Oriental Pearl, for the glass floor, the spheres, and the history museum in the base, which is better than the tower; the queues are the price.
- Hotel guests at the Grand Hyatt or the Park Hyatt: the hotel bars in Jin Mao (87th floor) and the World Financial Center (92nd) give nearly the same view for the price of a cocktail, without the deck ticket.
The bars with the view
A drink on a high terrace is often the better evening than a deck, because you sit, the sun sets while you talk, and nobody moves you on:
- On the Bund, the terraces of the heritage buildings along the waterfront (several of the hotels and restaurants on the Bund have rooftop bars) look across at Pudong from the classic angle; the nights guide lists them. Reserve a terrace table for sunset.
- In Pudong, the hotel bars in the towers above and the Ritz-Carlton’s 58th-floor terrace look back at the Bund, which is the view the photographs are of.
- The Shanghai Tower has its own bar levels below the deck for guests who want to linger.
Prices are Melbourne cocktail prices; dress smart casual; children are welcome before eight in most.
The free views
- The Bund promenade at dusk is the great free view and the one every visitor should have first; the nights guide has the timing.
- The Pudong riverside (Binjiang Avenue) under the towers, looking back at the lit Bund across the water, is the better photograph and far less crowded; take the ferry across for a few cents.
- The Lujiazui pedestrian ring, the circular elevated walkway at the foot of the Pearl Tower, gives the towers from below, which is its own vertigo.
- The Huangpu ferries and the river cruise put the skyline on both sides at once; the cruise is ticketed, the ferry is nearly free.
- Hotel lobbies and lifts: the Grand Hyatt’s atrium in Jin Mao and the Park Hyatt’s lobby on the 87th floor of the World Financial Center can be visited for the price of walking in with confidence or a coffee.
Practical notes
- Booking is online with a passport for all four towers; same-day tickets exist but the dusk slots go first. A guide books the slot that matches the sunset.
- Security screening at each tower; allow 20 minutes. Prams and wheelchairs are fine on all the decks (not the skywalk).
- Children under a certain height are free or reduced at each; the Jin Mao skywalk has a minimum age and height.
- Combination tickets exist for the Pearl Tower’s spheres and museum, and for the World Financial Center’s three decks; the Shanghai Tower is a single ticket.
- Weather. Low cloud closes the view, not the deck; ask the guide to check the morning sky before committing the evening.
Our usual advice
One tower, the Shanghai Tower at dusk, on the clearest evening of the stay; one terrace drink on the Bund another evening; the ferry and the Pudong riverside for the photograph; and the Pearl Tower only if there are children who want to stand on the glass. The Shanghai essentials tour includes the Shanghai Tower at dusk on the first full evening, booked for the sunset time of your dates; on a day guide booking the guide checks the sky at breakfast and moves it to the clearest day.
