Jin Mao Tower, or ‘Golden Prosperity’ Tower, is an 88-story iconic skyscraper located in the center of the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone in Pudong New Area, one of the modern business complexes evolving in Shanghai.

Construction of the Tower started in 1994 and was completed in 1999. Jin Mao was in the race to be the tallest and foremost skyscraper of the area and its time.  From the time it was built till 2008, it was the tallest building in China, till it was surpassed by the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center (completed 2008), and the 128-story Shanghai Tower (completed 2015). Together these three skyscrapers standing side by side formed the world’s first troika of supertall skyscrapers.

The Jin Mao Tower, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Tower are part of the Lujiazui skyscraper skyline seen from the Bund.

Functions of Jin Mao Tower

Jin Mao Tower holds offices, retail space, a hotel, a shopping mall, a cinema, an exhibition centre, and even a small post office.
A landscaped courtyard surrounding the base of the tower welcomes visitors with seating and an ornamental pool.
There are three basement floors include parking, a food court, and the Grand Hyatt Hotel’s conference and banquet facilities.
The first six floors include a shopping mall and restaurants.
Office spaces start from the 3rd floor and end at the 50^th floor.
The 51st and 52nd floors are mechanical floors.
The 53^rd to 87th floors are occupied by the Jin Mao’s anchor tenant, the Grand Hyatt hotel, with 555 rooms, cafes and restaurants.
The 88th floor is occupied by an observation deck which is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Shanghai.  

Architectural Masterpiece

Jin Mao Tower is a neo-futuristic architectural masterpiece of complexity, using for its inspiration the ancient and traditional tiered pagodas of Hangzhou to become a post-modern skyscraper.

The Tower has segments that setback towards the core as they rise, creating a rhythmic pattern; this is similar to the design of Chinese pagodas. The structure has an exterior reflective ‘curtain wall’ made of glass, stainless steel, aluminum, and granite, offset by a latticework cladding made of aluminum alloy pipes. The top four stories forming the shaft, crown, and spire of the building are lit up at night.

Lucky Number 8

Jin Mao Tower’s structure, proportions, and history are centered around the number 8, said to bring prosperity in Chinese culture.

The 88 floors are divided into 16 segments, each of which is 1/8 shorter than the 16-story base. The tower’s core is an octagon-shaped concrete shear wall, surrounded by 8 exterior super columns and 8 exterior columns. It was inaugurated on August 28, 1998.

Jin Mao Tower in the Skyscraper Race

Basic Information

Location: 88 Century Avenue Pudong District, Shanghai 200121, China
Height: Tip 420.5 meters; Top floor 348.4 meters
Floor Count: 88 floors; 5 spire floors; 3 basement floors; Total 95 floors
Skywalk Timings: 15 visitors allowed every 30 minutes from 09:00 to 21:30
Skywalk Ticket Price: CNY 388, excluding the entrance fee for the 88th sightseeing floor.
Fee to the 88th Sightseeing Floor: CNY 120 for adults ; CNY 60 for kids between 0.9 and 1.3 meters (3.0 and 4.3 feet) ; Free of charge for kids under 0.9 meter (3.0 feet)

7 Things to Do in Jin Mao Tower

1. On Floor 55: Canton, a fine-dining Cantonese restaurant covering the entire floor.
2. On Floor 56: More restaurants including The Grill, Italian Cucina, Japanese Kobachi, and the Patio Lounge at the base of the atrium.
3. On Floor 57: Club Oasis, a fitness club with the world’s formerly highest swimming pool.
4. On Floor 86: Club Jin Mao, a Shanghainese restaurant.
5. On Floor 88: The Skywalk, an indoor observation and sightseeing deck with a capacity of 1,000+ people for panoramic views of Shanghai and the Huangpu River.
6. On Floor 88:  A stunning view of the unique barrel-vaulted hotel atrium from the observation deck. The atrium has 28 annular corridors, and at 115 m it is the second tallest atrium in the world
7. ·   On Floor 88: A ‘wander in the clouds’ along a 60m long, 1.2m wide glass skywalk without rails.

5 Interesting Facts About Jin Mao Tower

1. For the foundation of Jin Mao Tower, 1062 steel piles were inserted 83.5 meters deep into the soft alluvial ground in the area (the longest steel piles used for a building at that time).
2. The office spaces in the building are column-free.
3. Its advanced structural engineering system of wind and earthquake engineering protect it against typhoon winds of up to 200 km/h, and earthquakes of up to 7 on the Richter scale.
4. It has a daily maintenance cost of 1 million RMB.
5. Its express elevators travel from the basement to the top in 45 seconds.

Recommended Hotels Near Jin Mao Tower

Location

Getting to Jin Mao Tower

By Metro:
Take Line 2 and get off at Lujiazui Station, get out from Exit 6 and walk to the south for 5 minutes to Jin Mao Tower.
By Bus:
1. Take bus 85, 774, 779, 799, 971, or 992 and get off at Lujiazui Metro Station.
2. Take City Sightseeing Bus Line 2 and get off at the tower.