Oriental Pearl TV Tower
东方明珠
The Oriental Pearl Tower is a TV tower in Shanghai, China. The Oriental Pearl Tower is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district.At 468 m (1,535 feet) high, it is the tallest tower in Asia, and the third tallest tower in the world after the CN Tower and the Ostankino Tower. Construction began in 1991 and the tower was completed in 1994. The tower features 11 spheres, big and small and the entire building is supported by three enormous columns that start underground. Visitors travel up and down the tower in double-decker elevators that can hold up to fifty people at the rate of seven meters per second. The design of the building is based on a verse of the Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Song by Bai Juyi about the wonderful sprinkling sound of a pipa instrument, like pearls, big and small falling on a jade plate. As a symbol of the economic reform in Shanghai, it was also the tallest structure in China before it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center.Like the Statue of Liberty in N. Y. , the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Oriental Pearl Tower is also a landmark and a tourist attraction in Shanghai, which displays a spectacular view of an international metropolis with the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center.Seen from far, the Yangpu Bridge and the Nanpu Bridge seem like two Chinese dragons frolicking with the pearls of the Oriental Pearl Tower.
东方明珠广播电视塔，又名东方明珠塔，位于中国上海浦东陆家嘴金融贸易区，始建于1991年，1994年完工。东方明珠塔高467.9米，亚洲第一，世界第三，仅次于加拿大的加拿大国家电视塔（553.3米）及俄罗斯的奥斯坦金诺电视塔（540.1米）。东方明珠塔最有特色的是把11个大小不一、高低错落的球体串联在一起，整个建筑物的支撑完全靠三根深入地下的擎天立柱，内置可载50人的双层电梯和每秒7米的高速电梯。东方明珠塔的名字来源唐朝诗人白居易的《琵琶行》中关于琵琶的声音的描写，诗人把琵琶的声音比如成珍珠落到玉盘里时的发出美妙声音，“大珠小珠落玉盘”。东方明珠塔是上海改革开放的象征，曾是中国最高的建筑，现在已被上海环球金融中心取代。与纽约的自由女神、悉尼歌剧院、巴黎的埃菲尔铁塔一样，东方明珠塔成为上海标志性建筑和旅游热点之一，与后方新耸立而起的金茂大厦和环球金融中心交相辉映，展现了国际大都市的壮观景色。从远处看它与两边的杨浦大桥和南浦大桥巧妙地组合成一幅二龙戏珠的巨幅画卷。