Shanghai Webcam – China’s Financial Capital on the Huangpu

The Shanghai Webcam looks east down Suzhou Creek from the Bellagio Shanghai hotel on North Suzhou Road, over the steel trusses of the Garden Bridge to the point where the creek runs into the Huangpu River. Across the water rises the skyline of Lujiazui in Pudong: the pink-red spheres of the Oriental Pearl Tower on the left, then the Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Tower and the tapering Shanghai Tower. In front of them, the concrete Monument to the People’s Heroes stands at the tip of Huangpu Park. Sightseeing boats and long river barges move along the Huangpu through the day, low cloud can cut the tops off the tallest towers, and on a clear afternoon the glass facades catch the western sun. After dark, the channel describes the view as the lit-up skyline of the Bund and Lujiazui.

About Shanghai and the Garden Bridge

The camera sits on the north bank of Suzhou Creek in Hongkou District, at 188 North Suzhou Road. The large brown-brick block on the left of the frame is Broadway Mansions, a 19-floor Art Deco hotel that was one of the main symbols of the city for more than five decades. The bridge across the middle of the picture is the Waibaidu Bridge, known in English as the Garden Bridge. It opened on 20 January 1908, was the first all-steel bridge in China and is the only surviving camelback truss bridge in the country. It is also the fourth Western-designed bridge built at this spot since 1856, and it links the Huangpu and Hongkou districts. In 1994 the city government listed it as Heritage Architecture.

On the far bank, the green triangle beyond the bridge is Huangpu Park, the oldest and smallest park in Shanghai. The tall concrete Monument to the People’s Heroes, built in 1993, rises from it at the exact confluence of Suzhou Creek and the Huangpu, and the Bund Historical Museum documents the waterfront’s past in old photographs. From the park the Bund runs south for 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) along Zhongshan Road, lined with 52 historic buildings in styles from Romanesque Revival and Gothic Revival to Beaux-Arts and Art Deco.

Lujiazui, on the opposite shore, is a peninsula formed by a bend in the Huangpu River, developed since the early 1990s as the city’s new financial district, directly across from the old business quarter of the Bund. The Oriental Pearl Tower, about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the hotel, reaches 468 meters (1,535 feet) and opened in 1994. Jin Mao Tower followed in 1999 at 421 meters (1,380 feet), and the Shanghai World Financial Center, with the open trapezoid at its top, in 2008 at 492 meters (1,614 feet). Shanghai Tower, finished in 2015, has 128 floors and stands 632 meters (2,073 feet) tall, making it the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world.

Weather and Climate in Shanghai

Summer is long, hot and humid. July days average around 33 C (92 F) with nights near 26 C (79 F), and the city sees about 21 days a year above 35 C (95 F). June and August are the wettest months, with roughly 225 millimeters (8.9 inches) of rain each, and summer and early autumn bring the typhoon season. Occasional downpours and thunderstorms can sweep across Pudong.

Autumn brings relief from the heat. October averages 17 to 24 C (63 to 74 F), and crisp days can put the whole Lujiazui skyline in sharp focus. Winters are cool and damp, with January between 3 and 9 C (37 and 48 F); snow falls on only about five days a year and settles on fewer than two, so a white Garden Bridge is a rare sight. Spring warms quickly, with April at 13 to 21 C (55 to 70 F). The city receives about 1,337 millimeters (52.6 inches) of rain in a year.

Things to Do Near Shanghai’s Suzhou Creek

Start on the Garden Bridge: cross it from the hotel side into Huangpu Park, stop at the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Bund Historical Museum, then follow the riverside promenade south along the Bund’s 52 historic facades. At the north end of the bridge, the former Astor House Hotel, established in 1846 at 15 Huangpu Road, closed as a hotel in 2018 and reopened that December as the China Securities Museum. Broadway Mansions, on the creek bank, is still a five-star hotel. Nanjing Road East, the eastern half of the city’s best-known street, is the main shopping district of Shanghai and one of the busiest shopping streets in the world.

Across the river in Lujiazui, the top sphere of the Oriental Pearl Tower has a 360-degree viewing level at 351 meters (1,152 feet), with the Bund and the mouth of Suzhou Creek laid out across the river. Shanghai Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center stand close together in Lujiazui, as the camera shows, and the Bund promenade is the place to see them lit at night.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More cameras from China and the nearby skylines of East Asia:

• Hong Kong Webcam
• Taipei Webcam
• Chengdu Giant Panda Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Shanghai Webcam located?

The camera is at the Bellagio Shanghai hotel, 188 North Suzhou Road in Hongkou District, on the north bank of Suzhou Creek near its confluence with the Huangpu River. The hotel is about 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) from the Bund.

What can you see on the Shanghai Webcam?

Suzhou Creek and the Garden Bridge in the foreground, Broadway Mansions on the left, Huangpu Park with the Monument to the People’s Heroes in the middle, and across the Huangpu River the Lujiazui skyline, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and Shanghai Tower.

What is the weather like in Shanghai?

Hot, humid summers around 33 C (92 F) by day, mild autumns of 17 to 24 C (63 to 74 F) in October, and cool, damp winters of 3 to 9 C (37 to 48 F) in January. June and August are the wettest months, and typhoons can arrive in summer and early autumn.

What is the bridge on the Shanghai Webcam?

It is the Waibaidu Bridge, or Garden Bridge, opened in 1908 across the mouth of Suzhou Creek. It was the first all-steel bridge in China and is the country’s only surviving camelback truss bridge.

What is the tallest building on the Shanghai skyline?

Shanghai Tower, at 632 meters (2,073 feet) and 128 floors. Completed in 2015, it is the tallest building in China and the tallest tower near the middle of the Lujiazui group on this camera.

How tall is the Oriental Pearl Tower?

The Oriental Pearl Tower is 468 meters (1,535 feet) tall and opened in 1994. Its top sphere holds a viewing level at 351 meters (1,152 feet).

What time zone does the Shanghai camera show?

Shanghai runs on China Standard Time, eight hours ahead of UTC. The channel adds a date and time bar in the top left corner of the stream.

Source: Brainrolling Workshop