Skyline View · Pudong

Lujiazui Skyline

The iconic shot is from the Bund side. But Lujiazui itself is worth crossing over for, too — just for different reasons.

The Lujiazui skyline is what most people picture when they hear "Shanghai" — and the trick is that the iconic view is from outside Lujiazui (the Bund side), not from inside it. Lujiazui is a 1.7 km² financial district in Pudong containing three of the world's tallest buildings stacked next to each other (Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Tower) plus the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. From the Bund's elevated promenade across the river, all four anchor structures fit into a single photo frame at a comfortable distance. From inside Lujiazui, the buildings are too tall and too close together to see properly — you mostly look up at one tower at a time. So the "skyline" is a Bund-side experience for the photo. But Lujiazui itself is still worth crossing over for — to walk the elevated pedestrian ring between the towers at golden hour, ride a high-speed elevator to a 500+ m observation deck, or just feel how dense the towers are when you're standing right under them.

• All four anchor towers in a single frame Shanghai Tower (twisted glass, 632 m), SWFC (the "bottle opener", 492 m), Jin Mao (pagoda-shaped, 421 m), and the Oriental Pearl (pink spheres, 468 m).
• Supporting cast The Shanghai International Finance Centre (IFC) twin towers, the Citi Bank building, and several mid-rise office towers fill out the foreground.
• Coordinated LED facade light shows after dark Shanghai Tower and the IFC towers play patterns that change every few minutes, occasionally synced for holidays.

• Shanghai Tower — Top of Shanghai Observatory Floor 118, 546 m — the world's 2nd-highest observation deck. Glass-floor section over the void at one corner. 60-second elevator from ground to 119F.
• Oriental Pearl Tower — sphere observation level 263 m, 1990s aesthetics, includes a glass-floor walk. The Shanghai History Museum at the base is genuinely good — Republican-era wax dioramas, original tram cars. Worth the ¥35 separate ticket.
• SWFC 100F Observation Deck 474 m — three glass-floor sky-walks at the top of the "bottle opener" void. Less crowded than Shanghai Tower since the latter opened in 2016.
• Lujiazui elevated pedestrian ring A circular sky-bridge connecting IFC, Super Brand Mall, and Pudong subway station, 6 m above the street. Office workers use it for daily commute. Free, no ticket needed, photogenic at golden hour.

Location

Pudong New District, Lujiazui financial zone.

Directly across the Huangpu River from the Bund.

Metro accessibility

Yes — Lujiazui station.

Line 2 / Line 14 — Lujiazui Station (陆家嘴). Line 2 exits 1 or 4 drop you directly onto the elevated pedestrian ring between the towers; Line 14 exits 6 or 7 deposit you near Super Brand Mall.

To view the skyline from the Bund: Line 2 / Line 10 — Nanjing East Road Station (南京东路), walk 5–8 min east to the riverfront.

River crossing on foot: the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (¥50/one-way) is a novelty ride — the metro covers the same crossing in 5 minutes for ¥3.