With over 2000 years of history, Guangzhou was the first stop on the Maritime Silk Road, the trade route that connected the East and the West. In the first decade of the 21st century, Guangzhou built a beautiful and significant architectural landmark.
Located in the center of the new district on the banks of the Pearl River, the tower leans like an elegant dancer. Not only is it a powerful new image for a thousand-year-old city, but also a new symbol for a modern Guangzhou. The tower is named after the city, and the people of Guangzhou are proud to call it the Canton Tower.
At a height of 600 meters, Canton Tower is the highest tower in China and the third highest worldwide. Designed by Dutch designers Mark Hemel and Barbara Ruit from Information Based Architecture Office, the tower was established in November 2005 and opened on October 1, 2010.
Canton Tower was one of the first towers in history to rise above 600 meters. People are often surprised by the tower’s aesthetics: it is bestowed with the beauty of a female body, turning it into an enormous piece of art that hovers in the air. Canton Tower’s outer frame is composed of 24 steel columns and 46 steel oval rings. It is created by two rotating ellipses of different sizes, small at the top and large at the bottom, with a 135-degree counterclockwise rotation, which forms the thinnest waist at the middle of the tower. Therefore, the tower is nicknamed Xiaomanyao (Tiny Waist). The tower has a curvaceous and complex beauty rather than the cold and rigid beauty typically manifested in mechanics and engineering. In 2008, while the Canton Tower was still being built, the US television channel National Geographic said “its design is like no other.”
No trip to Guangzhou is complete without visiting Canton Tower. It is a comprehensive sightseeing building and a renowned tourist attraction with multi-functions including sightseeing, adventure, food & beverage, weddings, MICE, 4D cinema, sci-tech, education, and shopping. Due to its height, Canton Tower has two Guinness World Records: the highest revolving restaurant in a building and the highest thrill ride — Sky Drop.
At Canton Tower, visitors can enjoy a unique and magnificent experience.
Source
- Canton Tower Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd. Making its Mark on Human History[M]. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House, 2020.
- https://www.cantontower.com/en/
- https://govt.chinadaily.com.cn/s/201712/15/WS5b7854f0498e855160e8d885/canton-tower.html