Beijing airport’s new Terminal 3 @Arch

In China, an Airport Colossus for the Olympics

Adorned with the red and gold colors of Imperial China, the massive glass- and steel-sheathed structure of the new Terminal 3 building at Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to handle over 50 million passengers a year. A lone visitor walks through the cavernous departure hall.

Photo: China Photos/Getty Images

Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, designed by the renowned British architect Norman Foster, has a roof that is meant to evoke the scales of a dragon.

Photo: Guang Niu/Getty Images

Developers call the new structure the "most advanced airport building in the world." The construction of the terminal was accelerated to meet the expected surge in air travel into the capital for the start of the Summer Olympics in August.

Photo: Liu Jin/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

The designers of Terminal 3 wanted to incorporate Chinese characteristics, so they sought the advice of a Feng Shui master.

Photo: Guang Niu/Getty Images

Employees carried out safety inspections of the equipment in the new terminal. The building opened ahead of schedule largely because Beijing had turned the site into a 24-hour-a-day operation, with as many as 50,000 construction workers.

Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images

Civil aviation traffic across China grew 16 percent last year to 185 million passenger trips, and is expected to increase to 210 million in 2008.

Photo: Liu Jin/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

A teahouse awaits customers and passengers in the new terminal. Chinese imperial colors of red and gold were selected for many of the terminal areas.

Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images

Workers complete the new Forest Park Station along the Olympic subway line. The special rail line has three underground stations to serve people traveling to and from events.

Photo: Associated Press

In Beijing, officials have used the Olympics to justify the remaking of the city with new highways and subways. This is the interior of the Olympic Green station.

Photo: China Photos/Getty Images

Passengers took a test ride on a new train on the Beijing No. 10 subway line, which has 22 stations. The No. 10 line links with the Olympic Green station, one of three stations on a special subway line built to serve the Olympic Games.

Photo: Guang Niu/Getty Images

@Source: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/02/business/0502airport_10.html