Jin Mao Tower Facts for Kids

31°14′14″N 121°30′5″E / 31.23722°N 121.50139°E / 31.23722; 121.50139

Quick facts for kids Jin Mao Tower
金茂大厦
The Jin Mao Tower in April 2007
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Skyscraper (incl. office, hotel, tourism, & retail)
Architectural style	Neo-Futurism
Location	88 Century Avenue Pudong District, Shanghai 200121, China
Construction started	1994; 31 years ago (1994)
Completed	1999; 26 years ago (1999)
Cost	US$530 million (1999)
Height
Architectural	420.5 meters (1,380 ft)
Tip	420.5 meters (1,380 ft)
Antenna spire	35 m (115 ft)
Roof	385.5 m (1,265 ft)
Top floor	375 meters (1,230 ft)
Observatory	374.5 meters (1,229 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	88 (+5 spire floors) (+3 basement floors) (Total: 96 floors)
Floor area	289,500 m² (3,116,000 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	61
Design and construction
Architect	Adrian Smith at SOM
Developer	China Jin Mao Group
Structural engineer	SOM

The Jin Mao Tower (which means 'Golden Prosperity Building') is a super tall skyscraper in Shanghai, China. It stands 420.5-metre-tall (1,380 ft) and has 88 floors. If you count the floors in its spire, it has 93 floors! This amazing building is a famous landmark in the Lujiazui area of Shanghai.

Inside the Jin Mao Tower, you'll find a big shopping mall, many offices, and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel. The hotel starts way up on the 53rd floor. When it was finished, it was the highest hotel in the world. The Jin Mao Tower is part of Shanghai's incredible skyline, along with other famous buildings like the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Tower.

In Shanghai, the tallest building is the Shanghai Tower, which is 632 meters high. Next is the Shanghai World Financial Center at 492 meters, then the Oriental Pearl Tower at 468 meters. The Jin Mao Tower is the fourth tallest structure at 420.5 meters. However, some people call it the third tallest building because the Oriental Pearl Tower is more of a TV and observation tower, not a traditional skyscraper.

Building Design and Strength
- How the Tower Stays Strong
Life Inside the Tower
Images for kids
See also

Building Design and Strength

Looking up at the Jin Mao Tower

The Jin Mao Tower was designed by a company called Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) from Chicago. Its design looks like a modern version of traditional Chinese architecture, especially like a tiered pagoda. The building gently steps back as it gets taller, creating a cool pattern.

The design also uses the number 8 a lot. In Chinese culture, the number 8 is thought to bring good luck and prosperity. The 88 floors are split into 16 sections. Each section is 1/8 shorter than the 16-story base.

How the Tower Stays Strong

The tower has a strong core in the middle that is shaped like an octagon. Around this core are 8 super-strong columns on the outside. These parts work together to make the building very stable.

The building's foundation goes deep into the ground. It uses 1,062 steel poles, each 83.5 m (274 ft) long! These were some of the longest steel poles ever used for a building on land when it was built. They help the tower stand firm on the soil.

The Jin Mao Tower is built to handle strong winds and earthquakes. It can withstand typhoon winds up to 200 km/h. The top of the tower might sway a little, but only by about 75 cm (30 in). It can also survive earthquakes up to 7 on the Richter scale. Special parts in the steel structure act like shock absorbers to help it move safely during strong winds or quakes. Even the swimming pool on the 57th floor helps to keep the building steady!

Life Inside the Tower

The Jin Mao Tower officially opened on August 28, 1998. This date was also chosen because of the lucky number 8. The building was fully ready for use in 1999.

The tower has 3 main entrances. Two are for the offices, and one is for the hotel. There are 61 Mitsubishi elevators and 19 escalators to help people move around quickly. The basement levels have a food court and parking for cars and bicycles.

What's Inside Jin Mao Tower

Basement: A food court where you can grab a bite to eat.
Lower Floors (1-6): A shopping mall with stores, restaurants, and places for fun.
Office Floors (3-50): Many floors are filled with modern offices. These spaces are open, without columns, making them flexible for different businesses.

Grand Hyatt Shanghai Hotel

The interior of the Cloud 9 Bar, located at the 87th floor of the Jinmao Tower

A big part of the Jin Mao Tower is the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel. This fancy hotel has 555 rooms and takes up floors 53 to 87. It's one of the highest hotels in the world!

One of the most amazing parts of the hotel is its huge, barrel-shaped atrium. It starts on the 56th floor and goes all the way up to the 87th floor. It's about 115 m (377 ft) tall and has 28 circular hallways and staircases spiraling upwards. It's one of the tallest atriums in the world!

The hotel floors also have cool places like:

53rd Floor: The Piano Bar, a jazz club.
54th Floor: The main hotel lobby and the Grand Café.
55th Floor: Canton, a fancy Cantonese restaurant.
56th Floor: Several restaurants, including The Grill, Cucina (Italian food), and Kobachi (Japanese food).
57th Floor: Club Oasis, a fitness club with a swimming pool that was once the highest in the world.
86th Floor: Club Jin Mao, a restaurant serving Shanghainese food.
87th Floor: Cloud 9, a sky bar with amazing views of the city.

Skywalk Observation Deck

On the 88th floor, you'll find the Skywalk, a large indoor observation deck. It's a great place to see panoramic views of Shanghai. You can also look down into the hotel's amazing atrium from here. There's even a small post office where you can send postcards!

To get to the Skywalk, you take two super-fast elevators from the basement. They travel at 9.1 meters per second and get you to the top in just 45 seconds!

Images for kids

The Jin Mao Tower's retail area in the lower floors
The hotel's atrium, viewed from the Skywalk on the 88th floor
The four mechanical stories forming the spire of the building are brightly illuminated at night
The SWFC and Jin Mao Tower, displaying the latter's latticework cladding of aluminum alloy pipes.
A view from the Jin Mao Tower's Skywalk, showing the Oriental Pearl Tower in Lujiazui and, across the Huangpu River, Shanghai's Bund, Nanjing Road, and the Garden Bridge across Suzhou Creek
The Jin Mao Tower with the construction of the Shanghai World Financial Center at the background
The Jin Mao Tower seen from the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center
The Jin Mao Tower at night