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The Chinese in typical understated fashion call it T3. But Beijing Capital International Airport's new Terminal Three is anything but understated.
When the hundreds of thousands of visitors arrive in Beijing for the Olympics in August, they'll be blown away by the sheer size and style of the largest terminal in the world.
The Chinese have spared no expense on the stadiums and infrastructure for the Games and the shop window for arrivals, 20km northeast of the city centre, is no exception. The terminal is a million square metres in area and shaped like a dragon. Its design is breathtaking and sure to be a winner with first-time arrivals.
The terminal has a lightweight aerodynamic roof and will eventually be able to accommodate more than 43 million passengers a year (53 million by 2015).
The hall of the terminal has five floors above ground and two underground. It will provide 66 air and remote parking bays bringing the total gates to 120.
It is being built between the existing eastern runway and a new third runway and includes check-in facilities, domestic departures and arrivals, and baggage reclaim facilities.
The roof is red, the traditional Chinese colour for good luck. The terminal's ceilings use white strips for decoration and to indicate directions. All the strips are south-north oriented, so that people don't get lost. The roof has dozens of windows to let in daylight. Many traditional Chinese elements are employed in the interior decoration, including a Menhai, a big copper vat used to store water for fighting fires in the Forbidden City, and the carvings imitating the famous Nine-Dragon Wall (Jiulongbi).
An indoor garden in the T3B waiting area is in the style of imperial gardens such as the Summer Palace. In the main terminal, a tunnel landscape of an underground garden has been finished with plants on each side so passengers can appreciate them inside the mini-train.
The food-service area has 72 stores which will provide food ranging from formal dishes to fast food, from Chinese to Western, from bakery goods to ice cream. Airport officials have promised that people who buy products at the airport will pay the same prices as in central Beijing. There will also be a 12,600sq m domestic retail area, a 10,600sq m duty-free store area and banks, business centres and internet services.
Terminal 3B and 3C (satellite concourses) are connected by an automated people-mover, accommodating international departures and arrivals. The rail linking the two areas is 2.5km long and will take four minutes.
In 2006 Beijing was the second-busiest airport in Asia and ninth-busiest worldwide. It served more than 48.5 million passengers and moved 1,028,908 tonnes of cargo with 376,340 aircraft movements.
The new terminal has a state of the art light rail system that, when completed for the Games, will transport people to downtown Beijing and link to the city's subway system. Two expressways to the city are also well under way.
Its baggage handling system, capable of handling 20,000 bags an hour, is one of the most sophisticated in the world. The system is 60km long and has state-of-the-art security. It is capable of travelling at 7 metres per second.
Siemens project boss American Jeff Martin says the five-year project had been challenging but rewarding. At the peak of the construction 50,000 workers were involved in the terminal project.
With capacity expected to be reached quickly, Beijing authorities are already looking at siting another airport south of Beijing which will be bigger than the existing airport.
* Chris Allen was guest of the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
