The very heart of New York

Exhibits of window flowers are on display at the Empire State Building to celebrate Chinese New Year. Photos Provided to China Daily

He notes that, "We find that there's a new generation of Chinese travelers coming to New York, who are younger, more independent, and are used to the Internet and electronic transactions a lot more. We believe that generation will really help boost the number."

To enhance the Chinese tourist experience, the building has come up with some special services to offer them. For example, the building offers visitors an iPod touch to get an audio-visual presentation of the landmark and a view of New York City and beyond, with its iView Tour program.

If they enter the number of the particular image they're looking at, they can get an explanation of the view in Mandarin and some pretty scenic photos.

For first-time Chinese visitors, Ghazi recommends that, when they get to New York and the jetlag is so bad that they get up very early in the morning, they can visit the building at that time, since there are no long queues.

The building also celebrates the Lunar New Year every year and, to observe the Year of the Snake this past February, they held a big light ceremony, with the entire building bathed in red and gold to signify health and prosperity for the Chinese. The lobby also held Chinese exhibits, such as folk culture and Chinese tradition for the Spring Festival.

"With LED programming, we can use the computer to produce millions of special effects," Ghazi continues.

The shining lights are really spectacular, among all the hustle-and-bustle of New York at night, and they're not for any other commercial use, just for celebrating particular events and special lighting ceremonies. They are pure white when there's no special event.

One example was when the LED lights were used in blue and red to track the results of the 2012 US presidential election and signify President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's electoral votes.

But, the building is not just an iconic attraction for tourists representing the history of New York City. It's also an example of energy efficiency and sustainability, thanks to improvements and a sustainability retrofit that allow it to cut energy consumption by more than 30 percent and save $4.40 million every year in energy costs.

There was refurbishing work on its 6,514 windows and they were filled with a mixture of gases for insulation to make them up to four times more efficient at keeping the heat and air conditioning inside.

As was stated above, movies have been a part of the building, and many people who haven't visited it, still get to know it from famous Hollywood offerings.

It has put in an appearance in more than 50 movies, perhaps the most recent one being Tom Cruise's sci-fi movie Oblivion, which premiered in the US, in April.

Another is the Chinese comedy Finding Mr. Right, which raked in about 500 million yuan ($80.90 million) since its premiere in mainland theaters, on March 21. It ends with the lead characters, Tang Wei and Wu Xiubo, having an unexpected - and romantic - reunion on the deck of the Empire State Building.

Related: Tang Wei promotes 'Finding Mr. Right' in Shanghai

"I like that movie," Ghazi enthuses. "I was there during the shooting. It was fun."

He explains that New Yorkers have a certain sense of honor, when it comes to the Empire State Building and feel that it belongs there, a part of the city and they love it, but tend not to visit it during peak seasons.

"Unless you see New York from the top of the Empire State Building," he concludes. "You just haven't seen New York."