It doesn’t look as dismal in real life.

Pictured above are the tallest peaks of Shanghai’s impressive skyline.

The bottle-opener shaped tower on the right is the Shanghai World Financial Center. The pointy Jin Mao Building stands in the middle, and on the left you can see the unremarkable Citi Tower.

All the buildings pictured rise from Shanghai’s Pudong financial district. The area was mostly mud and farmland before the Chinese government decided to develop it in 1990.

When builders finished the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2008, they came within 17 meters of beating out Taipei 101 for the title of World’s Tallest Building. I’d say the Taipei tower’s 60-meter spire gives it an unfair advantage, but I’m not the authority.

Still, a half-kilometer tall tower is nothing to scoff at.

Or, it wasn’t in 2008. Dubai’s 828-meter Burj Khalifa blew everyone else out of the water when it opened earlier this year.

But the World Financial Center’s sleek, modern design by KPF Associates has earned it a safe spot among the world’s most admired skyscrapers.

The Jin Mao Building has a jerkier form but it’s quite a structure.

Its square base twists up to an almost conical tower that houses the Shanghai Grant Hyatt, the world’s highest hotel. The Hyatt occupies floors 54 through 87 of the building, all of which are visible at once from the tower’s stunning —and dizzying — barrel-vaulted atrium.

Venture to the top and you’ll find Cloud 9, the world’s highest bar. Such an enticing landmark in such an affordable city — how convenient! If this place had a New York counterpart (and maybe it does) I’d max out my credit card just walking by.

But in Shanghai, even a modest amount of American money goes a long way. At Cloud 9, it grants a visitor access to good cigars, live jazz, and a thick cocktail menu replete with an icy chocolate concoction called “A Five-Year-Old’s Birthday Party.”

The low prices invite indulgence, but the prospect of staring drunkenly down the 33-floor atrium urges one to take it easy.

The legendary Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP designed the Jin Mao Building. This Chicago-based firm is also responsible for notable structures such as the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the John Hancock Center, and the record-breaking Burj Khalifa.

They are now working with architect Daniel Libeskind to build One World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

Meanwhile, towers continue to dart up from Shanghai’s Pudong district. In 2008, builders broke ground on the Shanghai Tower. When the 632-meter building opens in 2014, Shanghai will once again enjoy the honor of having the world’s almost-tallest building. 

Neither sleek nor jerky, the tower’s design seems to evoke…a misshapen plastic tube? Maybe the concept will make more sense when we see the finished product.