Visitors who want to climb the spiral staircase at the Shanghai Grand Opera House now pay 50 yuan, or about £5.60, per person. The fee applies to the stairs and the rooftop viewing platform above them, and it is separate from any shanghai opera house tickets for performances. Dezeen reported the change after visiting the building.
On site, a temporary barricade separates the free ground-level public space from the staircase that leads to the roof. The building is designed by Norwegian studio Snøhetta, and it sits on the banks of the Huangpu River.
Its sculpted profile is worth knowing before you buy, and a spiraling helical roof reshaping Shanghai’s skyline explains the design.
Visitors must book tickets online to reach the stairs. Bookings cover entry between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. According to the booking site, people who already hold tickets for a performance inside the opera house must still buy a separate ticket for the stairs, even if they already hold shanghai opera house tickets. The fee includes accident insurance.
What Snøhetta says about shanghai opera house tickets and the stair fee
Asked about the new requirements, Snøhetta said demand made visitor management necessary. The studio said access arrangements would keep changing as the opera house team learns how people use the building.
The studio pointed to the limited capacity of the roof and public stairs. It said the aim was to keep the building open to the public while protecting safety and the visitor experience. “Access arrangements will continue to develop with operational experience,” the studio told Dezeen.
The change sits uneasily with earlier descriptions of the building. When the opera house opened on October 17, 2026, Designboom described the building as an accessible public destination. The current fee departs from that description, and neither account mentions a trial period or a date for review. Designboom’s account also did not mention shanghai opera house tickets or any charge for the roof.
Online reaction came quickly. After news of the fee spread, the phrase “is it worth spending 50 yuan to visit Shanghai Grand Opera House” trended on Chinese social media. Some commenters doubted that a fee for a public building could be justified. Others accepted the need for crowd control, and a third group posted tips for photographing the building for free.
Visitors Dezeen spoke to were divided. Mr Qiu paid to climb the stairs and said the experience did not justify the cost.
“I don’t think it’s worth the money,” Mr Qiu told Dezeen. “Basically you pay to climb a giant stair. If you want good photos of the stairs, best to take from afar, which you can do for free.”
Ms Ye did not pay. She said the barricade ruined her photographs and questioned its purpose.
“I don’t know what the point of the barricade is – to separate the paid and unpaid? Or for better crowd circulation?” Ms Ye said. “But at least they need to put some effort into designing it to match the beauty of the building.”
A roof that was meant to be walked
Critics and visitors often compare the Shanghai building with the Oslo Opera House, which Snøhetta also designed. The Oslo building has a walkable roof too. Snøhetta says both projects were designed to reduce thresholds wherever possible.
At the Shanghai opening, co-founder Kjetil Thorsen said opera houses inevitably create thresholds through walls, doors and ticketed programs. He said the studio saw it as its responsibility to challenge those barriers. He wanted people to enjoy the building without buying shanghai opera house tickets for a performance.
“It should become part of everyday life, a place to spend time, meet others, and experience the city,” Thorsen said.
Other Chinese cultural buildings have followed a similar pattern. Public roofs often appear in the early concepts, then face limits once the buildings open.
Public access to Shanghai’s architecture is being tested in other ways too, and Chang Hao Studio’s mirrored pavilion in Shanghai offers a very different take on the city’s public spaces.
The Start Museum in Shanghai, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and opened in 2022, includes a public roof built to display large-scale artwork. Dezeen reports that the space has rarely been used. The Fuchun Cultural Museum Complex, designed by Amateur Architecture Studio, has a continuous undulating roof that recalls climbing the local Fuchun Mountain. That roof stayed closed to the public for four years. It now opens for one hour a day, three days a week. The Shanghai stairs will test how far a public building can charge for access before the public stops treating its roof as public space. For now, the 50 yuan fee and the booking window define the terms.
Kaia Wang contributed to the story.
H/T dezeen.com
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Shanghai Opera House staircase fee?
Visitors pay 50 yuan, or about £5.60, per person to climb the spiral staircase at the Shanghai Grand Opera House. The fee also covers the rooftop viewing platform above the stairs and is separate from any performance tickets.
Do performance ticket holders still need to pay for stairs?
Yes, people who already hold tickets for a performance inside the opera house must still buy a separate ticket for the stairs. The article says this applies even to those who already have Shanghai Opera House performance tickets.
When can visitors book entry to the Shanghai Opera House stairs?
Visitors must book tickets online to reach the stairs, and bookings cover entry between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. The stairs are reached through a temporary barricade that separates them from the free ground-level public space.
Does the Shanghai Opera House stair fee include insurance?
Yes, the 50 yuan stair fee includes accident insurance, according to the booking site described in the article.
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