Since I happen to be in China right now, I might as well make the most of it and take you to see one of Shanghai's most impressive landmarks for Gundam fans. We're heading to Pudong, outside the LaLaport Jinqiao shopping centre, where an 18-metre-tall Freedom Gundam has stood since 2021. And believe me, even after seeing dozens of photos and videos of this statue, standing a few metres from its feet is a completely different experience. I'll show you everything in the video.
This Freedom Gundam is all the more interesting for being the first life-size Gundam installed outside Japan. And to understand why this particular model was chosen, we obviously need to talk about Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Launched in 2002, the series was a huge success across Asia and especially in China, where Gundam SEED and its characters still enjoy enormous popularity today. Its hero, Kira Yamato, pilots this very ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, which over the years has become one of the most recognisable mobile suits in the entire franchise.
Designed by the legendary Kunio Okawara, the Freedom Gundam impresses above all through its proportions and its vast outstretched wings. At 18 metres, it's slightly shorter than the famous Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba, which topped out at around 19.7 metres. But in both cases the idea is ultimately much the same: a gigantic Gundam planted right outside a shopping centre, turning the place into a genuine pilgrimage site for fans. In Shanghai, the Freedom Gundam presides over LaLaport Jinqiao, a Japanese shopping centre in the Pudong district. And as in Odaiba, the Gundam isn't just dumped there as a giant decorative statue — it's an integral part of the experience, with light shows and sequences that breathe even more life into the mobile suit. Inside the shopping centre you'll also find THE GUNDAM BASE Shanghai, with its many Gunpla and pieces of merchandise.
China takes over from Japan
And that's exactly what gives this visit a rather special dimension today, given that the Odaiba Gundam has only just vanished. After almost 9 years outside DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam officially ended its run on 31 August 2026, before being dismantled a few days later. It occupied the same sort of spot as Shanghai's Freedom, right outside a huge shopping centre. For years, Odaiba was the essential address for seeing a life-size Gundam. Before the Unicorn, the site had already hosted the original RX-78-2 back in 2009. Since the end of August, then, that tradition has come to a halt in Tokyo, with no new Gundam announced for the location as yet.
Mind you, Shanghai's Freedom Gundam isn't the last life-size Gundam still standing in the world, since Fukuoka's RX-93ff ν Gundam is still in place outside LaLaport Fukuoka. That said, with the Odaiba Unicorn gone, Shanghai's Freedom Gundam inevitably becomes an even more appealing trip, as it's now one of the few life-size Gundam still accessible to the public — and above all it isn't swamped by tourists, being still largely unknown to the wider public.
In short, if you're a Gundam fan and you're passing through Shanghai, make a note of this address. And since I'm here in person, I'll let you see in the video what it's really like to stand at the foot of 18 metres of metal.
