Discover Guangzhou
Canton Tower
广州塔
At 600 metres this twisting steel lattice is the tallest tower in China and the best place to understand how Guangzhou sprawls along the Pearl River. Several separate decks are sold, including an open-air 450m platform and a rooftop bubble tram.
The story
What makes this place special
Canton Tower was designed by Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture with Arup as structural engineer, topped out in August 2009 and opened in September 2010 in time for the Guangzhou Asian Games. It is about 604 metres to the tip including an antenna of roughly 150 metres, with the structural body reaching 450 metres; the rooftop observation level opened in December 2011. The hourglass form is a twisted lattice of steel tubes — the waist is genuinely narrow, which is why the building looks different from every angle.
What you’ll discover
Nine lifts, in slow panoramic and high-speed double-decker types, serve a stack of separate attractions rather than a single deck. The indoor observatory is at about 449 metres, a terraced elliptical room; above it an open-air deck at about 488 metres; above that a terraced viewing square reached by stairs. Sixteen transparent four-to-six-seat cars run on a track around the roof rim, taking 20 to 40 minutes for a circuit — often miscalled a Ferris wheel, which it is not. Lower down, an open-air staircase called the Skywalk starts around 170 metres and spirals roughly 170 metres up through the waist, with glass floor panels in places.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- The levels are ticketed separately and the cheapest ticket does not get you onto the open-air deck or into the roof cars. Decide what you actually want before you queue, because upgrading at the top means going back down.
- The best photograph of the tower is not from the tower. Cross to the north bank at Haixinsha or stand on the Liede Bridge and shoot the tower with the Zhujiang New Town towers; from inside you cannot see the thing itself.
- The roof cars are slow, enclosed and sell out on clear evenings. If you want them, book a specific slot; if you do not, the open-air deck gives a better view for less money.
- Weekday afternoons for the shortest queues. Sunset slots on a weekend are the longest wait in the building.
- Guangzhou haze decides whether this is worth doing at all. Check visibility from street level before buying a ticket — on a grey day the Pearl River Night Cruise is a far better use of the evening.
When to come
Arrive about an hour before sunset on a clear day, so you see the city in daylight, at dusk, and lit. October to December has the clearest air; summer is hot and hazy.
Getting around
Good for the main decks: step-free from the metro and plaza, lifts throughout, level floors in the indoor observatory and on the open-air deck. The terraced viewing square above the deck is reached by stairs, and the Skywalk is an open staircase — neither works in a wheelchair. The roof cars require stepping across a moving threshold into a low seat, which is difficult with limited mobility. A bad knee will manage everything except the Skywalk.
Worth knowing before you go
Go up around 18:00 so you see the city in daylight, at dusk and lit up without buying twice.
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