Overview
Eleven spheres of different sizes are threaded on three columns, a form the architect drew from a Tang poem about pearls falling on a jade plate. It was the tallest structure in China until 2007 and has since been overtaken by neighbours twice its height. The base holds the Shanghai History Museum, which is the better half of a visit and often skipped.
Highlights
Buy the ticket that includes the 259-metre sphere with the glass floor; the higher 351-metre level adds little. The Shanghai History Museum in the basement recreates old Shanghai streets and is worth an hour. For photographs of the tower rather than from it, the Bund opposite is the place.