Traditional Chinese 上海國際金融中心 Traditional Chinese 上海國金中心 Phone +86 21 6311 1111 | Simplified Chinese 上海国际金融中心 Simplified Chinese 上海国金中心 | |
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Hanyu Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin Address 8号 Century Ave, LuJiaZui, Pudong Xinqu, China, 200120 | ||
Shanghai ifc and the pearl
Shanghai International Finance Centre, usually abbreviated as Shanghai IFC, is a commercial building complex and a shopping centre (branded Shanghai IFC mall) in Shanghai. It incorporates two tower blocks at 249.9 metres (south tower) and 259.9 metres (north tower) housing offices and a hotel, and an 85-metre tall multi-storey building behind and between the two towers.
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Shanghai IFC is located in Lujiazui, in Pudong, Shanghai. It occupies a prominent position southeast of the Lujiazui roundabout, diagonally across from the Oriental Pearl Tower and across the road from Super Brand Mall. It is adjacent to Lujiazui Station on Metro Line 2, and can be accessed directly from the underground station via a tunnel.
The south tower of Shanghai IFC and part of the multistorey building was completed in 2009, while the north tower and the rest of the complex was completed in 2010. Work continued for several years afterwards on peripheral aspects of the development, including landscaping and footbridge connections to nearby buildings and Lujiazui Central Park.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel occupies the south tower, while the north tower houses the current Shanghai headquarters of HSBC in China. Other prominent tenants of the complex include an Apple Store under the sunken forecourt of the building (topped by a cylindrical glass skylight rising from the forecourt), a multi-screen cinema, and a Citysuper supermarket. The remainder of the retail area is largely taken up by upscale chain restaurants and international luxury fashion brands.
Shanghai IFC, like its sister project the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong, was developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties.
Shanghai ifc north tower
HSBC lions
Maintaining a tradition begun with the historic HSBC Building across the Huangpu River on the Bund, the front of the north tower features a pair of bronze lions, the fourth pair of copies of the original which once graced the bank's old Shanghai headquarters.
The original lions are now held by the Shanghai Historic Museum (which currently has no permanent home) and are separately on display at the Museum's display room under the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Banking Museum, both nearby in Lujiazui. The Shanghai IFC copies were cast from the copies outside HSBC's Hong Kong headquarters; the other two copies (outside HSBC's global headquarters in London and the historic HSBC Building in Shanghai) were cast from the Hong Kong copies and Shanghai originals respectively.