Shanghai skyscrapers’ viewing platforms re-open as virus eases

SHANGHAI, China – High-profile fixtures of Shanghai’s skyline began to re-open Thursday, March 12 on a limited basis in a sign of confidence that the coronavirus was being tamed in the Chinese financial center.

The 632-meter (2,073-foot) Shanghai Tower – the world’s second-tallest building – and the futuristic Oriental Pearl Tower Radio and Television Tower were among skyscrapers to announce viewing platforms and other public areas had opened again, subject to various restrictions.

The Shanghai Museum said it was re-opening on Friday, March 13 but would cap daily visitors at 2,000.

Chinese media reports said a number of other tourist sites also were gradually opening their doors again.

Shanghai, along with the rest of the country, had shut down virtually all public gathering places for weeks as China imposed sweeping restrictions to halt the spread of the virus.

But new infections have fallen sharply in China in recent weeks, dropping to nil in Shanghai aside from scattered cases of infected travelers arriving in the city from hard-hit Italy.

As the rest of the world reels, China’s government has sought to trumpet its containment success, with President Xi Jinping saying on Tuesday, March 10 during a visit to the epicenter city of Wuhan that the epidemic had been “basically curbed” there.

Shanghai Disney on Monday, March 9 reopened its shopping and entertainment Disneytown zone, plus a park and hotel in the same complex, in the “first step of a phased reopening”.

The main Disneyland theme park, however, remains closed for now.

Shanghai’s normally bustling streets resembled a ghost town for weeks at the height of the shutdowns. The city remains subdued but road and pedestrian traffic have steadily increased in recent days. – Rappler.com