Canton Tower

The Canton Tower (Chinese: 广州塔), formally Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower (Chinese: 广州电视台天文及观光塔), is a very tall tower that stands 600 metres (2,000 feet) high in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, China. It was completed in 2009 and opened to the public on September 29, 2010, just in time for the 2010 Asian Games.

For a short time, the Canton Tower was the tallest tower in the world, taking the place of Toronto’s CN Tower. Later, it was surpassed by the Tokyo Skytree. Before the Shanghai Tower was built, the Canton Tower was the tallest structure in all of China. Today, it is the second-tallest tower in China and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.

Naming and etymology

People talked a lot about what to call the Canton Tower when it was being built in 2005. In September 2020, the newspaper Guangzhou Daily held a contest to choose a name. Over 180,000 people entered, and the winning name was "Haixin Tower," which means "Tower in the Sea." This name reminded people of the city's place on the Maritime Silk Road and its closeness to Haixinsha Island. But many people still used other fun nicknames like "Slim Waist" or "Twisted Firewood."

In 2010, after listening to many opinions, the name "Canton Tower" was chosen as the official English name. This name was picked because it described the city's important history well and was easy for everyone to understand.

History

The Canton Tower was built by Guangzhou New Television Tower Group. It was designed by Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit from Information Based Architecture, along with the firm Arup based in London, United Kingdom. In 2004, these designers won an international competition to create the tower. They worked together to develop the tower's design.

Construction began in 2005. Even though the tower wasn’t fully finished, it opened to the public on 1 October 2010 to welcome visitors before the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou later that year. The rooftop observatory officially opened in December 2011.

Structure and construction

The Canton Tower has a special twisted shape based on an old design from a Russian engineer. It was designed by a team that used smart building methods to create a simple yet strong structure.

Visitors can walk on a skywalk that goes up the tower, and there are gardens and a big outdoor viewing area near the top. Inside, the tower has many places to visit, like TV rooms, restaurants that spin around, gaming areas, shops, and movie theaters.

The tower’s design comes from two oval shapes that twist around each other, making the middle part tighter and the top more open. There is an indoor viewing area and an outdoor viewing platform that was once the highest in the world. At night, the tower lights up beautifully with special lighting that uses very little energy.

Measurements

The Canton Tower's main body is 450 metres tall (1,480 feet). With its 150-metre-long (490 feet) antenna, the tower reaches a total height of 604 metres (1,982 feet). This makes it the second-tallest tower in the world, the second tallest in Asia, and the tallest in the People's Republic of China. The tower has 112 floors in total.

The entire tower weighs 100,000 tonnes (220,000,000 pounds; 100,000,000 kilograms). This includes the antenna, which weighs 1,550 tonnes (3,420,000 pounds; 1,550,000 kilograms), and the main body of the tower, which weighs 98,450 tonnes (217,050,000 pounds; 98,450,000 kilograms). The tower covers a floor area of 175,458 square metres (1,888,610 square feet), with 114,054 square metres (1,227,670 square feet) being usable space.

Events

The Canton Tower was a special spot for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, held on Haixinsha Island.

It also had its first ever concert inside, an annual Christmas Concert on Christmas Eve, which took place on December 24, 2012.

Geography

The Canton Tower stands along Yiyuan Road in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, just south of Zhujiang New Town. Nearby, you can find beautiful pagodas, a park, and many tall buildings and apartments.