Visiting Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China
Hello Steemians!
Yesterday, my girlfriend and I took a trip to Guangzhou and while we were there we went to visit the famous Canton Tower. The tower was constructed in 2009 and completed in 2010 in time for the 2010 Asian Games and it briefly held the title for the tallest building in the world. It has since been surpassed in height by a few buildings including Shanghai Tower, making it the second tallest building in China and fourth tallest structure in the world. The tower has a slight hourglass shape and is wrapped in a lattice structure, the lattice is open at the bottom, tightens in the middle and opens again at the top to provide an increased strength to the overall structure. The total height of the tower is 595m with the tourist observation deck at the 488m mark, which is quite high but not as impressive as the viewing deck in Shanghai Tower. Another interesting fact about the tower is that despite it's height it only has 37 floors, there are several floors near the bottom of the lattice and then nothing until near the top. The tower is lit up every night with multiple colored LED arrays that are placed at every cross in the lattice and are constantly changing the color of the tower, it is quite beautiful to watch in action. Also, about 100m away is the Chigang Pagoda which was built in 1619 of red sandstone and styled after Ming Dynasty architecture, it was really beautiful to see as well.
Our Trip Up the Tower
My girlfriend is originally from Guangzhou but had never been to the top so I suggested we head up there on our visit and check it out. We bought our tickets online and there were a variety of options, we opted for the 2 observation decks and a trip around the top in the Sky Bubbles and the cost was 300RMB/pax. There are a few other options like a sky drop ride near the top and an even higher viewing platform but the cost was too high for us, even 300RMB to see the tower was almost twice the cost of visiting Shanghai Tower. Our tickets were valid from 5:30-7:30pm and we headed up right at 5:30. To get to the elevator we had to pass through an airport like security where they confiscated all liquids and lighters and made us pass through metal detectors. Once we were in we headed straight for the elevators and took the ride in a packed elevator to the top.
The View
The view from the two lower decks was actually pretty unimpressive, between the lattice of the building obstructing the view and the pollution in the city the visibility was pretty low. However, there is a very interesting museum at the top of the two floors that shows you how the vibration dampening on the building works and I thought it was fascinating even though my girlfriend did not. After that we headed up in the elevator to the Sky Bubbles and the open air observation deck.
Sky Bubbles!
The observation deck was pretty lame because the Sky Bubble track obstructs the entire view of the city so we quickly got in line to get on the ride. The Sky Bubbles are exactly like the sound, round lexan bubbles that move slowly on a track around the circumference of the building that give you a spectacular view of the city below, despite the pollution. We rode in a bubble with 2 other people and the whole ride took about 15 minutes, we got some great pictures and really enjoyed the view as darkness fell over the city. When we got off the ride we decided it was time to head back down to the ground and check out the lit up building at night. It was so beautiful from the park that straddles the tower. We walked up and down the paths and took pictures and just generally admired the pretty sight before getting on the subway to go for dinner.
The Colors of Canton Tower
I would definitely recommend a visit if you are ever in Guangzhou, even though the price is high it is worth a look but don't skip the Sky Bubbles or you might regret it, thanks for reading!
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The tower is prettier in the evening 🌃😊, But the traffic is awful after you visited the tower.
Ya, Guangzhou has too many people!
That tower looks magical when its lights are turned on! ❤️
Yes it really is quite beautiful! I love how so many Chinese buildings use LEDs to play animations and light up the skylines, I wish more countries did that
Yeah, me too :)
Aww you guys are super cute together!!! The lights and the haziness give it a really dreamy feel... I feel as though I am looking at stills from a Wong Kar Wai film. :D
Thank you! Yeah it was really cool up there but the feeling is a bit bizarre. Seeing all the buildings surrounded by hazy pollution with all the LED arrays everywhere looks so cool (has a cyberpunk feel to it all for me) but in the back of my mind I am always thinking about how much of that haze is pollution and how much worse is it going to get? If you like these then check out this picture I took from the top of Shanghai Tower, I stitched it from 12 photos (right click and view image to see the whole thing):
You can see all the same haze falling over the city in the distance but not quite as bad a Guangzhou, as much as I hate the idea of pollution on this scale(or any scale), it is fun to photograph.
Holy buckets you did an amazing job of stitching. My eyes would have started crossing! Yeah, I guess I did not want to be rude by mentioning the pollution but that sort of stuff makes me sad too. I can see how it really adds to the mood of a photograph though. I don't know how I'd fare by visiting such places as I have weak ass lungs anyhoo.
Ya its one of the few pictures I have stitched that came out well but there are some issues with the boats in the water. I dont personally think its too rude to point out the pollution, everyone knows its there and its no one persons fault. The population is just so massive and everyone has the same wants as the west and that ends up problematic. To be honest I dont really notice it unless I get somewhere high up and realize I can see less than 1km away, so I think your lungs would survive
Hehehehe if I bring my inhaler I'm sure I'll be ok. If I'm ok in the thin air on a 14er, I think a little smog won't hurt me. :D :D I didn't even see a flaw in the boats!!!!
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