By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
UPDATE: Editor’s note: Corrected blog post.
SHANGHAI, China–Shanghai is full of skyscrapers it’s a pain in the neck — literally.
Which isn’t surprising since it’s touted as China’s modern metropolis. The Orient Pearl Tower sticks out from among the rest because of how it looks. Yes, it’s that one next to Chairman Mao (Editor’s note: Thanks to our readers who noticed the error and pointed out that this is a statue of Chen Yi.) the statue of Chen Yi, who was Shanghai’s first mayor when the People’s Republic of China was founded .
It reminded me a lot of Malaysia’s Petronas Towers because everywhere you go, it’s just a head turn away. It’s actually a TV tower (third largest in Asia) but it stands out from among many skyscrapers because of its rocket-ship look.
The Orient Pearl is just right beside the convention center in Pudong where I’m covering the Intel Developer Forum, so each time I go out I couldn’t help but crane my neck up.
And speaking of heights, I stayed at the 26th floor of Sofitel here, which means I have a decent view of Shanghai’s skyscrapers while I’m writing this post.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
my mistake, thanks for the info! and yes, i am more familiar with Chairman Mao and the statue looks a lot like him.
but then again, it was my first time in Shanghai, so I wouldn’t know much.
cheers,
lawrence
April 7th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
what a boring report!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
geesh, you’re a blogger or whatever in philippine inquirer and you couldnt get your data right? do some research first before posting anything on a national newspaper
April 7th, 2008 at 2:40 am
That’s not a statue of Chairman Mao. It happens to be a statue of Shanghai Mayor Chen Yi.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Just setting the facts straight. In the first photograph where a statue seemingly towering over the Orient Pearl Tower (it is actually a TV tower) is not the former first secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong as you’ve mentioned. As a matter of fact, it represents Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai in the newly founded People’s Republic of China. Yeah, they do look the same, don’t they?