Shanghai Tower

Shanghai Tower is a 632-metre, 128-floor skyscraper that completed in 2015 and immediately became the defining structure of the Lujiazui financial district — and arguably of modern China's ambitions. It's the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world, distinguished by its dramatic twisting form: the glass facade spirals upward at a 120-degree rotation, cutting wind load while creating a silhouette unlike anything else on the skyline. The observation deck on the 118th floor, called Skywalk, sits at around 546 metres — one of the highest publicly accessible viewpoints on the planet.

The experience centres on that ascent. You take what is officially the world's fastest elevator — reaching speeds of around 18 metres per second — up to the observation level in less than a minute, which is disorienting in the best possible way. At the top, you're looking down at the Bund across the Huangpu River, across the full sprawl of Pudong's financial towers (including the Jin Mao Tower and the bottle-opener silhouette of the Shanghai World Financial Center directly beside you), and on clear days far into the outer districts and beyond. There's also an outdoor section, sky gardens between the building's inner and outer glass shells, and a bar at the 100th floor where you can settle in with a drink and watch the city shift from day to dusk to fully lit night.

Visiting in the evening is genuinely worth prioritising — the Lujiazui light show and the Bund's illuminated colonial facades are spectacular from this altitude. That said, Shanghai's notorious haze means visibility is highly variable; the tower's own app and various weather services give visibility forecasts, and seasoned visitors check these before booking. The tower sits in a cluster with Jin Mao and the SWFC, so you can easily combine it with the neighbouring observation decks if you want to compare perspectives — though Shanghai Tower's views are the most dramatic simply because of the height.