I recently read about the new Terminal 3 at Beijing International Airport. It sounds mightily impressive. Here are a few quotes from the article:

at the size of 170 soccer fields, qualifies as the world’s biggest building.

It’s the biggest building in the world!

The $US2.7 billion ($A2.9 billion) project will have 17 per cent more floor space than London Heathrow’s five terminals combined

It’ll take a while to walk from one side to the other!

“It’s so big that under a certain amount of light you can’t see one end of the building from the other,” he said.

I’ve been to many airports around the world. The current Beijing terminals (pictured in the post header) aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either. It will be interesting to see how the new terminal shapes up.

Of course there are often teething problems with new terminals, wherever they may be. Also, building quality in China often leaves a lot to be desired. You can expect a future post on this – my apartment is terrible!

However, I suspect they will have done a good job. When the Chinese really put their minds to something, they can come up with amazing results. I’ve visited China’s third biggest furniture shopping complex and it is truly enormous. I’ve never been a building that big anywhere else in the world. The scale is just amazing!

The new terminal is obviously timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympics, so I don’t think anything will be left to chance. I’m sure that by the time the Olympics roll around, the new terminal will be one of the best in the world.

Anyway, I’ll get a chance to experience the new terminal firsthand in a couple of months. I’ll try to remember to report back on it. If anyone else has used it, please share your experience in the comments!