Canton Tower

광저우 타워

Canton Tower is a slim observation and TV tower in Guangzhou, a big port city in southern China. Its official height is about 600 metres (some sources say 604 metres), and it opened on 29 September 2010, just in time for the Asian Games held in the city. For a short while it was the tallest tower in the world, until Tokyo Skytree was finished.

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At a glance

Country: China
Location: Guangzhou, China
Built: 2010
Height: 604 m
Type: Tower

Quick answers

Where is Canton Tower?

Canton Tower is in Guangzhou, China.

When was Canton Tower built?

Canton Tower was built in 2010.

How tall is Canton Tower?

Canton Tower is about 604 m tall.

A 604 m TV tower with a slender, twisted lattice "waist", Guangzhou's landmark.

It is easy to recognise because the tower narrows in the middle like a twisted waist, made of a lattice of steel. Local people nicknamed it "Slim Waist".

Design and name

The tower was designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture together with the engineering firm Arup, who won an international competition in 2004. Building started in 2005. In 2010 officials picked "Canton Tower" as the official English name, because it points to the city's trading past. A later naming contest in 2020 drew more than 180,000 entries and chose "Haixin Tower", meaning "tower in the sea", but people kept using their own nicknames.

How tall is it?

It was topped out in 2009. It was China's tallest structure until Shanghai Tower reached its full height on 3 August 2013, and today it is China's second-tallest tower and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. English Wikipedia lists 600 metres, while Korean sources and the card on this globe use 604 metres including its mast.