Shanghai
View across the river Huangpu towards the Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong at dusk. In the foreground, the historical Waibaidu bride from 1908 spans the Wusong River or Suzhou Creek, which flows into the Huangpu here. The riverside promenade called the Bund starts at this spot and leads along the curve of the Huangpu river. The lights of its other end can be seen in the distance on the right-hand side.
On the other side of the Huangpu, the retro-futuristic Oriental Pearl Tower marks the business district in Pudong which has sprung up in the past 25 years from what was before a district of warehouses and fields. Another landmark of Pudong is the triad of supertall skyscrapers. From this perspective the stepped crown of the 421 meter Jin Mao Tower is barely visible in front of the Shanghai World Financial Center (492 meters), with the tallest and most recent of the three towers, Shanghai Tower (632 meters) to the right.
The curious shape of the Shanghai World Financial Center with its trapezoid hole at the top - which makes the building look like a bottle opener - results from considerations to reduce the wind load on the building (the souvenir shop on the observation deck fittingly sells bottle openers in shape of the building). Similarly, the spiral shape of Shanghai Tower is intended to reduce wind load as well. Shanghai regularly experiences fierce typhoons in the summer season.
This photo was taken at dusk just before the colorful illumination of the Pudong skyline was switched on. In the evening, the buildings are illuminated and neon signs and animated LED display boards that span entire facades blink their messages into the night and across the river.
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