Russian Daredevils Offer Sneak Preview of the Shanghai Tower

While China was busy setting off firecrackers over the spring festival holiday, two Russian daredevils decided to celebrate the new year with an unauthorised climb of China’s tallest building.

The lack of an elevator or even exterior walls on the 632-metre, 128-storey Shanghai Tower was no deterrent for Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov who climbed the unfinished building without safety gear.

Sneaking in when the project’s security guards were apparently taking a little extra time off for the holiday, the pair filmed their 2000 foot climb.

Commenting on their ascent Vadim said, “There are a lot of guards and cameras around in the day time, so we started climbing during the night, it was easier to stay unnoticed that way.”

Since publicity was part of the mission, even after getting to the top the two urban climbers decided to wait around until weather conditions were optimal for filming. According to Vadim, “It took about two hours to get to the top, but when we got there we could only see clouds. We had to wait for hours for the clouds to part but it was well worth the wait, the view was like something from an aircraft window.”

The pictures show the view of other Shanghai landmarks such as the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jinmao Tower, but the video tells the full story. (Although you may not want to watch if you have a fear of high places).

Youtube version for those of you outside of China

The video and pictures of the climb are not the first time that view from atop the unfinished tower have made the news. In November last year a crane operator working on the project won a prize in a photo contest for his own views of the city.

Youku version for those of us inside the GFW

The Shanghai Tower is currently the tallest building in China and the second-tallest in the world, surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates. The tower is expected to be completed later this year.