Jumbo air terminal opens in Beijing

Beijing opened up a new terminal Friday, an enormous glass and steel construction designed to house the rush in visitors expected for the Summer Olympics.

Several passengers from the first domestic flights to arrive at Terminal 3 were greeted with bouquets of flowers. Musicians serenaded with string instruments at the opening ceremony where Chinese officials attended.

The actual terminal, its runway and most of the accompanied infrastructure were built in under four years. A pressing deadline indeed as it had to be up, running and ready for the Summer Olympics, August 8-24. Beijing was in urgent need of a new terminal despite having to host the Summer Olympics. Its double digit growth in economy has been quickly outpacing infrastructure plans. Officials are saying that at least 64 million visitors are expected to come through this 2008, up from 50 million visitors in 2007.

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