Canton Tower - Tallest TV Tower in the World
Overview
Canton Tower also known as Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower.
It is not only the world’s tallest TV tower, reaching 610m in height, but also one of the most beautiful structures. Gracefully standing in the heart of Guangzhou city near Chigang Pagoda, the 600-meter-high Canton Tower began its business operations on September 29, 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. As a top tourist destination in Guangzhou, Canton Tower attracts numerous visitors to go up for a bird's-eye view over the whole city.
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The tower acquired the nickname 'super-model', it was designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit. They successed to design a free-form tower with a rich and human-like identity which represent Guangzhou as a dynamic and exciting city. Different from other male-featured skyscrapers, which are introvert, strong, straight, rectangular and based on repetition, the Canton Tower bears a female feature, being complex, transparent, curvy and gracious, very splender and tall.
Four high-speed elevators carry visitors up to the viewing platforms at a speed of 10 metres per second.
The waist of the tower contains a 180 meters long open-air skywalk where visitors can physically climb the tower, and there are outdoor gardens set within the structure.
The top deck of the tower
The top deck at +460 m is designed as a sloping elliptical square of 54 by 42 meter, where one can sit down and enjoy the panoramic view. Here one can feel the effects of the super-high rise physically.
One can feel the reduced temperature, see far on clear days, taste the clouds on a cloudy day, and possible feel the structure sway in the wind.
The top is shaved off diagonally, not toward the N-S central axis, but instead N-W towards the old city center, so that while sitting there one can oversee both new and old, and so the tower's form becomes an instrument symbolically bridging between the old and the new.
The interior of the tower
The interior of the tower is divided into programmatic zones with various functions, including TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, shops, and 4D cinemas.
Five zones of the tower
Canton Tower promises an awesome and inspiring experience at every level from sightseeing, dining, culture entertainment to environmental and popular science education exhibition. The tower has something for everyone. The five zones are as follows:
Shop ‘n’ Savor Zone A (below 32 meters): Food Street, Retail Stores, Integrated Services Hall, Multi-functional Exhibition Hall and Conference Rooms
Envision-Zone B (84 - 116 meters): 4D Cinema
Discover-Zone C (147 - 168 meters): Observation and adventure area. (Spider walk: 168 - 334 meters)
Relax-Zone D (334 - 355 meters): Cocktail lounge and TV signals broadcast room
Observe-Zone E (376 - 450 meters): VIP Chinese Restaurant, French and Mediterranean Buffet Revolving Restaurant, 2 Observation Decks, the Highest Post Office in the world, the Damper, 2 Science Education Halls, Outdoor Observation Deck (450 meters) and Entertainment and Adventure Facilities e.g. Bubble Cars and “Hair Raiser”.
