Lujiazui Financial District 陆家嘴金融区

Friends, we're standing right now in Lujiazui Central Green. Take a look around — notice how we're completely surrounded by skyscrapers? That feeling of towers growing from the greenery and greenery growing from the towers is exactly what makes this place so special. This park covers 100,000 square metres, opened in 1997, and is the largest open lawn in central Shanghai — known as "the lungs of the financial city."

Look toward the centre of the park — that abstract sculpture is called "Hovering Oasis," created by an artist inspired by the natural world. The artificial lake beside it is beautifully clear, and on a fine day the skyscrapers reflect perfectly in the water. This spot is fantastic for photos, especially around 9 or 10 in the morning when the light is soft — the Oriental Pearl Tower and the three supertall towers all reflect in the lake at the same time, giving you the whole essence of Lujiazui in a single frame.

Did you know there's a secret hidden beneath this park? Right underneath us is the Pudong exit of the Yan'an East Road Tunnel. When they built the park in 1997, the soil above the tunnel had to be carefully engineered before they could lay this smooth lawn on top. So every inch of grass you're standing on is a feat of urban engineering. In other words, you're walking over a tunnel that carries tens of thousands of vehicles every day, while above it you have a lawn where you could roll around and take a nap — that kind of layered "green on top, cars below" land use is remarkably clever in a city where every square metre counts.

In the early morning, local residents often come here to practice tai chi or go for a run. If you're here at that hour, you get to see the rare, quiet side of this financial district — a completely different world from the suited professionals striding purposefully through at midday. Look at the office towers around the park — their glass facades throw off shifting reflections in the sunlight. With a longer zoom lens you can frame the lawn and the skyscrapers in the same shot, capturing that striking contrast between nature and the urban grid — it's the definitive portrait of Lujiazui.

I'd suggest spending 15 to 20 minutes here — take some photos, have a stroll, and enjoy a rare breath of fresh air inside the forest of towers. If you've brought a picnic blanket, sitting on the grass for a while is absolutely lovely. When you're ready, we'll head toward the Oriental Pearl Tower and begin our ascent.

Friends, what you're looking at right now is Shanghai's most iconic landmark — the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower. Look up: the tower stands 468 metres tall, and when it was completed it was the tallest structure in Asia. What makes it so immediately recognisable are those spheres of different sizes. The design was inspired by a line from the Tang-dynasty poet Bai Juyi's "Song of the Pipa": "large pearls and small pearls tumbling onto a jade plate." Imagine musical notes bouncing off the strings and scattering like pearls across a jade surface — the architect turned that image into three soaring columns and eleven spheres. It's a wonderfully romantic idea.

Construction began in 1991, and the tower opened in 1994, making it one of the very first landmark buildings to rise out of Pudong's development. Notice the small sphere right at the top — that's the Space Capsule observation level, at 351 metres. The large sphere in the middle houses the main observation deck at 263 metres, with a full 360-degree view across Shanghai. Below that, at 259 metres, is the fully transparent glass sightseeing corridor. If you're feeling brave, you have to try it — the floor is transparent glass, and when you look down you can see the whole of Lujiazui spread out beneath your feet. Your knees will go a little weak, I promise. Don't worry though — the glass is three-layer laminated tempered glass rated to carry far more than a person's weight.

At the base of the tower there's also the Shanghai Urban History Development Museum, which recreates old Shanghai through miniature scenes and life-size figures — rickshaws, stone-gate alleyway life, the era of the calendar girl posters. It walks you through Shanghai's entire transformation from a small fishing town to a global metropolis. This museum is included in your ticket, and a surprising number of visitors rush straight to the lifts and miss it entirely — which is a real shame. I'd suggest spending about 30 minutes there after you come back down. It completely changes the way you see this city.

Photography tip: stand on the side of the park closest to the river and shoot upward toward the tower — you can frame the spheres against the open sky. In the evening, once the tower lights up, the spheres glow warm orange against a deep blue sky, and the contrast is breathtaking. If you use your phone's ultra-wide lens from directly beneath the tower, the spheres and columns form a striking geometric composition that feels almost futuristic.

Right, once you have your tickets, we'll head inside. The lift is fast — it takes just a few seconds to reach 263 metres. Be ready: your ears may pop slightly from the change in pressure. Just swallow, and it'll clear right away.

Friends, just a short walk from the Oriental Pearl Tower brings us to Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. It sits right next to the tower, with a floor area of around 20,000 square metres, making it one of the largest marine aquariums in Asia. There are more than 300 display tanks and over 300 species — more than 10,000 fish and rare creatures in total.

The aquarium is divided into nine themed zones: China, South America, Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, cold-water, polar, coastal, and deep sea. The China Zone is the standout section — the one you simply won't find in any aquarium outside this country. Here you'll see the Chinese sturgeon — sometimes called the "giant panda of the water" — one of the oldest vertebrates on earth, having survived on this planet for 140 million years, older even than the dinosaurs. The zone also has Yangtze alligators, red carp, and other aquatic animals unique to China. Spend a little extra time in front of the Chinese sturgeon tank. These fish can grow up to three or four metres long, and the way they glide through the water is genuinely majestic — living fossils in the most literal sense.

The penguins in the Antarctic Zone are another highlight — emperor penguins and Humboldt penguins. Watch them through the glass as they "fly" through the water, because that's exactly what it looks like: flying, not swimming, at remarkable speed. Photography tip: the penguin tank is quite dark, so switch to burst mode and fire off a series of shots as the penguins swim close to the glass — you'll almost always get a good one.

The star of the whole aquarium is the 155-metre underwater tunnel. Once you walk in, the ceiling and walls on both sides are formed by a curved transparent acrylic tube, and sharks, rays, and sea turtles glide right over your head. The sense of immersion is genuinely awe-inspiring. Walk slowly through the tunnel and keep looking up — especially when a large ray comes drifting overhead, its wings fanning gently. That kind of graceful motion tends to stop people in their tracks. There are also scheduled feeding shows in the tunnel; check the notice board at the entrance for times.

The full visit takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. If you have children with you, this is a wonderful family experience. The tunnel is fairly dark inside — use portrait mode or raise your ISO, and wait until the fish swim close before pressing the shutter. Take your time, and I'll meet everyone at the exit.

Friends, the tower in front of us that looks like a Chinese pagoda is Jinmao Tower. Take a moment to count the floors — 88 in total, rising 420.5 metres. Jinmao Tower was completed in 1999, making it the earliest of the Lujiazui "Big Three," and it was designed by the American firm SOM.

Look closely at the exterior. The design draws its inspiration from the tiered Chinese close-eave pagoda — thirteen sections step inward from base to crown, each with proportions that were carefully calculated. If you placed a photo of Jinmao Tower side by side with one of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, you'd be struck by how similar their silhouettes are. That's the result of merging classical Eastern aesthetics with modern supertall construction — a poem written in steel and glass about an ancient Chinese tower.

The 88th-floor observatory sits at 340 metres and offers a 360-degree view across both banks of the Huangpu. Once you're up there, the first thing to do is find the Oriental Pearl Tower — the perspective is completely different from street level. From down below, looking up at the Oriental Pearl, it seems impossibly tall. But from 340 metres, the 468-metre tower looks like a column with a few balls on it, and you suddenly understand the true meaning of the word "skyscraper." On a clear day you can see People's Square and Nanjing Road to the west, the vast plains stretching toward Pudong International Airport to the east, and the Huangpu River winding northward toward where it joins the Yangtze.

Jinmao Tower also has a hidden gem inside. Floors 52 to 87 house the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, with a central atrium that rises open and uninterrupted from the 56th floor all the way to the 87th — more than 30 floors of vertical space, making it one of the tallest hotel atriums in the world. If you get the chance to access the hotel area, stand at the bottom of the atrium and shoot upward — the stacked ring structure looks like a kaleidoscope and is a classic architectural photography composition. Access to the hotel floors requires either a hotel room or a dining reservation, so keep that in mind.

Photography tip: the 88th-floor windows can produce reflections, so wear dark clothing or press your phone lens directly against the glass to cut most of the glare. The best view from Jinmao faces southeast — you can see the side profiles of the World Financial Center and Shanghai Tower, and framing all three towers together creates a wonderfully layered composition.

Friends, that tower over there with the massive rectangular opening at the top is the Shanghai World Financial Center — affectionately nicknamed the "bottle opener" by Shanghainese. Take a look at that roofline — does it remind you of a corkscrew? Interestingly, the original design called for a circular opening, but that was later changed to the current rectangular shape because the public felt the circular form with radiating lines resembled the Japanese flag. The redesign ended up becoming the building's most distinctive feature.

The World Financial Center stands 492 metres tall, with 101 floors, and was completed in 2008. The 100th floor has a suspended glass walkway called the Sky Walk at 474 metres above ground — when it opened, it was the highest observation platform in the world. As you walk across it, three parallel strips of transparent glass make up the floor, and looking straight down means looking nearly 500 metres toward the street below. The sensation of weightlessness is extraordinary — honestly, most people instinctively hug the walls on their first attempt, which is completely normal. But once you settle in, try walking to the centre and looking down: the whole of Lujiazui becomes a scale model beneath your feet, and that moment stays with you for life.

The 94th floor also has a large, 700-square-metre observation hall — perfect if you'd rather not take on the glass walkway — with equally sweeping views all around. From this height, you can see the Huangpu River make a perfect bend as it curves around the Lujiazui peninsula — flowing in from the south, turning at the tip, and heading east — while across the water the Bund's historic facades line up like a row of perfectly arranged architectural models.

These three supertalls — Jinmao, the World Financial Center, and Shanghai Tower — are known as the Lujiazui "Big Three." Standing here you can see all three at once: Jinmao like a pagoda, the World Financial Center like a bottle opener, Shanghai Tower like a spiraling dragon. This is the classic angle for a "Big Three" group shot, especially at dusk when all three towers light up simultaneously — Jinmao in warm white, the World Financial Center in cool white, and Shanghai Tower in blue-white. The layered interplay of those three light colours is remarkably rich.

Photography tip: wear flat shoes on the Sky Walk glass floor — although it has an anti-slip treatment, high heels aren't safe up there. If you're nervous, walk along the solid wall sections; you'll still have spectacular views. If you want the classic "city below my feet" shot, ask a companion to photograph you from a distance — trying to frame the shot on your own phone while looking down is a reliable way to feel dizzy.

Friends, that tower spiraling upward in front of us like a rising dragon is China's tallest building — Shanghai Tower. 632 metres, 128 floors, the second tallest building in the world, surpassed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Notice the spiraling form — the building rotates 120 degrees from base to crown. The design draws on the Eastern image of a dragon ascending into the sky, and when you trace the tower's outline from bottom to top, you can feel exactly that sense of upward coiling movement.

Shanghai Tower reached full completion in 2016. The 118th-floor "Top of Shanghai" observatory sits 546 metres above ground, making it one of the highest observation decks in the world. Pay attention in the lift on the way up — the elevator travels at 20.5 metres per second, reaching the 118th floor from ground level in about 55 seconds. To put that in perspective, it's roughly 10 times faster than a standard residential elevator. Your ears may feel a slight pressure change during the ascent; just swallow and it will clear immediately.

Shanghai Tower also has a world-class engineering feature that you probably won't feel but absolutely should know about. Between the 125th and 126th floors hangs a tuned mass damper weighing 1,000 tonnes, called the "Shanghai Eye." It is the world's first eddy current tuned mass damper — a giant metal disc roughly 12 metres in diameter — designed to absorb the energy of typhoons and earthquakes. Standing on the observation deck you likely won't notice the building moving, but during a strong typhoon the top of Shanghai Tower can sway more than a metre. This damper is what keeps everything calm. If you've purchased the combo ticket that includes the 126th-floor damper experience, you can see this engineering marvel up close — it's genuinely jaw-dropping.

I'd recommend coming up at dusk. First take in the daytime cityscape — the Huangpu River winds through the city like a golden ribbon, the Bund's historic buildings stand out with perfect clarity, and on a clear day you can even make out the flight paths of aircraft taking off and landing far to the west. Then wait for 19:00, when the Bund lights come on and the entire riverfront becomes a ribbon of gold. Watching that transformation from 546 metres, as ten thousand lights blink on across the city below you, is something you won't forget.

Photography tip: the "Top of Shanghai" observation floor is the largest of the three tower observatories, and the glass is the cleanest — reflections are minimal. Find a window facing the Bund and shoot the riverfront panorama with a wide-angle lens. If you've brought a tripod (check the venue's policy), long-exposure night shots capturing light trails from traffic and the glow of the towers are stunning.

Friends, stepping out of the skyscraper district, we've arrived at a completely different world — Wu Changshuo Memorial Hall. Does it feel like a time slip? One moment you were surrounded by glass curtain-wall towers, and now you've walked into a century-old Jiangnan residence. That disorienting jump across time is what makes this stop the most distinctive in the entire Lujiazui itinerary.

This compound was the private home of Chen Guichun, a Shanghai industrialist of the late Qing and early Republican era, built in the early 20th century. It faces south, with three successive courtyards and a gate tower bearing elaborate brick carvings. Look at the carvings above the main entrance — despite a hundred years of wind and rain, the birds, flowers, and figural scenes are still crisp and sharp, the workmanship incredibly refined, a prime example of Jiangnan residential brick carving. Wu Changshuo, the grand master of the Shanghai school of painting, calligraphy, and seal carving, spent his later years living here. The hall now displays his original calligraphy, paintings, and seal carvings alongside related historical documents.

Who was Wu Changshuo? A quick introduction. He was the defining figure of the late Shanghai school, acclaimed for mastery across all four disciplines: poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal engraving. He is considered the foremost practitioner of the ancient stone-drum script style of calligraphy. Qi Baishi — yes, the Qi Baishi everyone knows — once wrote a poem saying he would willingly serve as a hound at Wu Changshuo's gate, which gives you some sense of how deeply one great master revered another. Here you can see Wu Changshuo's stone-drum script calligraphy, his bold freehand flower-and-bird paintings, and original seal carvings — all authentic works.

Look at the wisteria pergola in the courtyard — in spring it erupts into cascading purple blossoms that drape over the grey walls and dark roof tiles, creating one of the most beautiful scenes in all of Lujiazui. Even outside the flowering season, the stillness of this courtyard is worth savouring. Stand in the yard and look up — the tops of skyscrapers hundreds of metres tall thrust above the skyline in every direction, while beneath your feet are the old grey bricks of a century-old mansion. The contrast is total. But that contrast is precisely what reveals Lujiazui's truest character: it isn't only about the heights of the future — it also holds the warmth of history.

Entry is free, but you'll need to register your ID at the door. Plan for about 30 minutes here, taking your time with the exhibits and the courtyard itself. The hall is never very crowded — it's the quietest corner in all of Lujiazui. Sit here for a while and you'll come away with a very different sense of Shanghai: a city that is not only made of steel, glass, and data, but also of ink, brushwork, and a deep literary spirit.

Friends, we're now walking along Century Avenue. This is no ordinary road — it runs about five kilometres in total, 100 metres wide, and has been called the "Champs-Elysees of the East." Century Avenue runs from the Oriental Pearl Tower in the west all the way to Century Park in the east, serving as the main east-west artery of Lujiazui and one of the widest city streets in China.

Take a look down both sides. On your left are Jinmao Tower, the World Financial Center, and Shanghai Tower — the "Big Three." On your right, one office tower and shopping complex follows another. Walking this street, you really grasp the scale of Lujiazui. From a distance those towers look impressive; standing at their feet and tilting your head back is an entirely different kind of overwhelm. Try standing directly below Jinmao Tower and looking straight up — you can crane your neck until it nearly breaks and still not see the top. That vertical sense of pressure is something photographs simply cannot convey.

The design of Century Avenue itself is also worth paying attention to. The central reservation isn't a simple strip of greenery — it's a carefully planned public art corridor with sculpted landscapes. The paving, street lights, and benches along the entire avenue share a unified design language, making this one of Shanghai's flagship urban-design showcases. The pavements are wide and unhurried; this is a street meant to be walked slowly.

Century Avenue connects Lujiazui Financial District, the administrative and cultural zone, and Century Park. If you wanted to walk the entire length from Lujiazui to Century Park, you'd need about an hour. Along the way you'd pass the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Oriental Art Center, eventually reaching Century Park — the largest park inside Shanghai's inner ring road at about 140 hectares. If time is short though, we'll focus on this western stretch through the core of Lujiazui.

Photography tip: stand on Century Avenue and walk west, then turn back and you'll have the "Big Three" lined up in front of you — Jinmao's pagoda silhouette, the World Financial Center's rectangular aperture, and Shanghai Tower's spiral — three entirely different tower forms weaving together on the skyline. At dusk, shooting into the backlight gives you a beautiful set of silhouettes. This inside-looking-out perspective is completely different from the horizontal views you get from the Pudong Riverside Promenade — it's the city observed from within.

As you walk, keep an eye on the ground beneath you — the pavement along Century Avenue is dotted with urban sculptures and art installations that are easy to walk right past. Slow down, notice the details, and you'll discover that Lujiazui is far more than tall buildings: it's a district full of thoughtfully designed small-scale spaces too.

Friends, our final stop is the Pudong Riverside Promenade. In my view, this is the single most rewarding place in all of Lujiazui — because standing here and looking across at the Bund is the most iconic urban view Shanghai has to offer. If ascending the towers is about surveying the city from above, then the Riverside Promenade is about looking at the city from the water's edge — and you need both perspectives to fully experience Lujiazui.

The Promenade follows the east bank of the Huangpu River, stretching about 2.5 kilometres through the Lujiazui section, carved from the sites of old wharves and a former shipyard. Find the waterfront steps, sit down, and face the opposite bank — to your left, the Bund's neoclassical and Art Deco facades line up one after another; to your right, the graceful arc of Nanpu Bridge; straight ahead, ferries and pleasure boats threading back and forth across the water; and behind you, the Oriental Pearl Tower and the towers of Lujiazui. This single spot is the most concentrated expression of Shanghai's "old meets new, east meets west" character.

The Promenade also connects Shipyard 1862 arts space and Powerstation of Art. Shipyard 1862 was transformed from a century-old shipbuilding factory — the original brick walls and steel structure preserve the texture of its industrial past, while the interior now houses retail and arts venues, redesigned by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. If you have time, it's worth a wander: the scale of the old factory floor is striking, and you can still spot original slogans and markings on the walls. Powerstation of Art, meanwhile, stages contemporary art exhibitions in a converted coal bunker — another industrial-heritage regeneration project.

Dusk is the magical hour here. Watch your timing — the Bund's building lights typically switch on at 19:00 (a little earlier around 18:00 in winter). The moment the lights come on, the entire row of historic facades transforms from dim silhouettes into a glowing golden panorama. That instant when old meets new and east meets west, all at once — that is Shanghai's essential character. The ferries still crossing the river leave long golden trails of reflected light on the water, and the whole scene builds into extraordinary layers.

Photography tip: the golden hour falls 20 to 30 minutes after sunset — the sky still holds a deep blue, the Bund's lights are glowing warm gold, and the river surface mirrors back warm orange. Three layers of light source stacked on top of each other mean practically any frame you take will look stunning. If you have a tripod or can prop your phone against the railing for stability, a long exposure will capture both the light trails from passing boats and perfect reflections on the water. This is the classic Shanghai postcard shot, and this is where you take it.

Friends, that brings our tour of Lujiazui Financial District to a close. From the green lungs of the city to China's tallest tower, from a century-old residence to a record-breaking skyline, from an ocean world to a riverside sunset — I hope today has given you a feel for Shanghai's height, its depth, and its warmth. Thank you all!