Shanghai World Finacial Center

The observation deck at the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center closed at the start of 2023 and never reopened. By May 2024 the local tourism authority had formally revoked its 4A-level scenic attraction rating, which in Chinese tourism classification is about as clear a signal as it gets that the closure is not a temporary renovation pause. If you are planning a trip around riding up to the famous glass floor here, that plan needs to change, and most older blog posts about this building have not caught up with that fact yet.

The building itself is still very much worth knowing about, even without public access to the top. Locals call it the Bottle Opener, and the nickname traces back to a genuine architectural dispute rather than just visual resemblance. The original design by Kohn Pedersen Fox called for a circular aperture near the summit, both a wind-load solution and a nod to the Chinese moon gate motif. Officials objected that a circle at that height, backlit, would look uncomfortably close to the Japanese flag, a sensitive comparison given the history between the two countries. The architects revised it to the trapezoidal cutout you see today, finished in 2008 after Mori Building Company had already pushed the design taller mid-project, from an original 460 meters to the finished 492.

What replaced SWFC as Shanghai’s viewing-deck draw is next door, almost literally. Shanghai Tower, completed in 2016 and about 200 meters away, has its own observation deck on the 118th floor, a genuinely different experience since it is a full ring rather than a corridor. SWFC’s old top-floor deck was a long narrow walkway with visibility blocked at both ends by structural walls, so even before the closure, Shanghai Tower already offered the better 360-degree view. If your itinerary has one skyscraper-viewing stop in Pudong, that is now the one to book, and it also holds the claim of the world’s highest observation deck in a building of its height class.

None of that means SWFC is worth skipping entirely. The tower still functions as a working office and retail complex, and its ground floor and lower podium levels hold restaurants and shops that do not require any ticket. It remains a striking building to walk past or photograph from Lujiazui’s waterfront paths, especially at night when the trapezoid cutout is lit and the building’s silhouette reads clearly against the rest of the skyline.

For a base nearby, the Portman Ritz-Carlton and Grand Hyatt Shanghai both sit within walking distance in Pudong’s financial district, and the Grand Hyatt in particular occupies floors of the neighboring Jin Mao Tower, itself a third skyscraper worth admiring from the street. Both hotels put you inside a five to ten minute walk of Lujiazui metro station on Line 2, which is also the closest stop for both SWFC and Shanghai Tower.

For food, skip the hotel restaurants on your first night and walk to the IAPM Mall a few minutes away, which has a denser and more varied food court than either hotel’s formal dining room, along with the shopping if you need it. If you want a splurge dinner, the Portman’s Capital Restaurant does an upscale take on northern Chinese cuisine that is worth the price for a special occasion rather than a casual lunch.

Lujiazui Financial City Park offers a genuinely quiet break between skyscrapers, with ponds and sculpture that most visitors walk straight past on their way to photograph the towers. The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel connecting the Bund to Pudong under the river is more novelty than substance, worth doing once for the strange light show if you are already crossing, but not something to build a day around.

My take: book the Shanghai Tower deck instead of assuming SWFC still has one, and treat this building as a photo subject and a waterfront landmark rather than a ticketed attraction. Check current listings before you buy anything labeled SWFC observation deck, since resellers sometimes still list tickets for a deck that no longer operates.