Guangzhou TV Tower

The World's Highest Observation Wheel

On the 450-meter-high (1476-feet high) rooftop of Canton Tower, visitors can take the world’s highest horizontal Ferris wheel to take the panoramic views of Guangzhou. The track is constructed around the periphery of the roof, with 16 transparent cars seating 4-6 people in each. It takes 20 minutes for the cars to circumnavigate the track. The wheel operates from 17:00-22:00 daily, and the price is 130 yuan per person (admission fee of Canton Tower is NOT included).

Overview

The Canton Tower or Canton Tower (also known as the "Supermodel") is a radio and TV tower near Chigang Pagoda (赤岗塔), Haizhu District, Guangzhou, and 125 meters (410 ft) away from the north shore of the Pearl River. It faces the Haixin Sha Island and Pearl River New City with Guangzhou 21st century CBD District across the river. It was finished in 2009 and became operational on September 29, 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games.

The nickname Xiao Man's Waist (means slender waist. Xiao Man a famous geisha in the Tang Dynasty (618AD-907AD), who had a very beautiful slender waist.) comes from the innovative design of the tower. While most skyscrapers bear "male" features; being extrovert, strong, straight, rectangular, and based on repetition, the architects wanted to create a "female" tower, being complex, transparent, curvy and gracious. Their aim was to design a free-form tower with a rich and human-like identity that would represent Guangzhou as a dynamic and exciting city. The result is the tower, very slender and tall, that bears similarities with the figure of a female. The narrowest part of tower, the waist, is the 66th floor, with a diameter of only 30 meters (98 ft).

The 610-meter tower features a tapering silhouette and is designed to house TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, exhibition space, conference rooms, shops and 4D cinemas. Information Based Architecture has created the shape by a rotation between lower and upper level floor plates, characterized by a twist and narrowing elliptical waist of less than 27 meters (87 ft). The main design emphasis was to offer outdoor and physical experience for visitors. There are outdoor gardens set within the structure, and a large open-air observation landscape opens up magnificent views over the city. It is not only the tallest TV tower in Asia, but also one of the most beautiful structures providing transmission services for the Sixteenth Asian Games. The new landmark opened officially on 10.1, 2010.

Sightseeing

The tourists can enjoy an unobstructed view of Guangzhou City. Standing upon the tower, tourists can have a bird's-eye view of the beautiful scenery of both the Guangzhou New City and the Pearl River. At the base of the tower display Guangzhou general information, including history, culture, economy and tourist attractions and set up many tourism service facilities; at the top design restaurants, entertainment facilities and viewing platform.

Transmission

Besides sightseeing function, the tower also serves to transmit radio, TV and microwave digital signals.

Display

Inside the tower display the city planning model. The Urban Planning Exhibition Hall with a total floor area of not less than 5, 000 square meters is designed to display large-scale large city models and other urban construction achievements. What is more, there are also viewing platforms, entertainment and restaurant facilities, with recreational, dining and other services for tourists.