Shang-High Window Cleaners

Shang-High Window Cleaners

Sky high in Shanghai: Fearless window cleaners at work outside the 101st floor of the world's fourth-tallest building The wacky workplace slogan of a thousand coffee mugs has never been more true: You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.Outside the 101st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center in China, window cleaners are shown preparing for their shift. More than 30 workers on the window-cleaning team of the supertall skyscraper work in pairs every day.

Tall order: The city sprawls out into the smog as one of the window cleaners readies his squeegee at the Shanghai World Financial Centre, ChinaThey have to obtain a licence for high-rise operations and must not have high blood pressure or, naturally, suffer a fear of heights.They are not allowed items which could fall, such as mobile phones or wristwatches, and must stop working in heavy winds.The centre is the fourth-tallest building in the world, standing at 1,614ft.It opened in 2008 and houses the highest observation deck on Earth, while the Park Hyatt Shanghai, occupying the 79th to 93rd floors, is the world's second-highest hotel.

Top of the world: It takes a team of more than 30 cleaners, working in pairs every day, to keep the skyscraper looking its best

Nerves of steel: The Shanghai World Financial Center dwarfs the already huge buildings of China's biggest city

No room for vertigo: Two workers are suspended against the cityscape as they prepare for a shift on the 1,614ft skyscraper.