Apple's cylindrical glass tower entrance to the new underground retail megastore in Shanghai China, set to open mid July, is now decked in red curtains, signaling close proximity to launch.
The new real property is one of the two new stores opening in Shanghai this summer and counts among the 25 new Apple Stores that the company's chief operations executive Tim Cook said would open in China by the end of 2011.
The new store's design is reminiscent of Apple's iconic flagship New York City store on Fifth Avenue, which is similarly located entirely underground and features a dramatic giant glass cube entrance.
The new Shanghai store has an equally prominent location at the foot of the International Finance Center (and is part of the surrounding IFC Mall next to retail boutiques including Armani, Cartier, Chanel, Ferragamo, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Vuitton, and Tiffany), and lies in the shadow of Shanghai's signature Oriental Pearl TV Tower landmark.
Earlier spy pictures published by MacGeneration indicated a cylindrical glass entrance for the new store wrapped in grey plastic, with a giant Apple logo suspended within the structure.
New pictures captured by reader dombi of the Hungarian-language BeszeljukMac site show the tower now decked in faux red curtains, similar to the launch of other Apple Stores. (A report by ifoAppleStore also published shots of the new store's red curtains.)
"When we walked down to stairs to the bottom of the structure," the BeszeljukMac photographer told AppleInsider, "a guy stepped in front of the camera and told us that we could not take shots of 'his work.' He said that we were not in a 'public area.' I asked him if he could tell me what was happening there, or when was it going to be unveiled, but he refused to say anything."