Beijing Airport

Cost a reported 27 Billion Yuan ($3.65 Billion)

Took less than 4 years to build

During construction had 50,000 workers on site

Floor Area 1.3 Million Square Metres

Over 4 Km Long Which Makes It The Worlds Largest Building

Has an Automated People Mover (A P M) which travels at 80 k/hr

Has 84 shops and over 100 restaurants

The main terminal building has a loor area of 1.3 million square metres - most o it under one roof.


An estimated 50 million passengers a year will pass through the airport.

During construction, 50,000 people worked on he site. Lord Foster, whose company designed it, said he building "moves the dialogue between scale and clarity to another level".

The terminal was commissioned, designed and built in just our years - less time than it took to conduct the public inquiry into Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

An architectural model of the building which is almost 4KM long. An automated people mover (APM) carries passengers around the terminal at speeds of 80kph.

Terminal 3's curved roof contains thousands of skylights.

Their orientation to the southeast is intended to maximize the heat gain from the early morning sun, helping to reduce the amount of energy expended by the structure for heating.

The golden tint, meanwhile, is meant to evoke the colours of Beijing's Forbidden City, the Ming Dynasty-era imperial palace at the city's centre.

They even provide a runway for Pilots with very little experience with landings...!!

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps - The Records Breaker...

Swimming :

Men's 4 x 100m Medley Final: United States (Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak) 3:29.34 (WR)

Men's 100m Butterfly Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 50.58 (OR)

Men's 200m Medley Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 1:54.23 (WR)

Men's 4 x 200m Free Final: United States (Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay) 6:58.56 (WR)

Men's 200m Butterfly Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 1:52.03 (WR)

Men's 200m Butterfly Semifinal - Heat 2: United States (Michael Phelps) 1:53.70 (OR)

Men's 200m Butterfly Semifinal: United States (Michael Phelps) 1:53.70 (OR)

Men's 200m Free Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 1:42.96 (WR)

Men's 4 x 100m Free Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 3:08.24 (WR)

Men's 400m Medley Final: United States (Michael Phelps) 4:03.84 (WR)

Birthdate: June 30, 1985

Age: 23 years

Weight: 201 lbs (91 kg)

Height: 6’3” (1.93 m)

United States' Michael Phelps, center, reacts as he wins his 8th gold medal after the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final during the swimming competitions in the National Aquatics Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008. In front is US swimmer Brendan Hansen.

• Set four individual world records and won seven gold medals at the 2007 World Championships to become the winningest athlete in World Championship history.
• In 2004, became first athlete ever to win eight medals (six gold) at a non-boycotted Olympic Games.
• His eight medals tie 1980 USSR gymnast Alexandr Dityatin for most medals by an athlete in a single Olympics.
• 2003 Sullivan Award winner, becoming the 10th swimmer to be honored as the top amateur athlete in the country.
• Only man to win five U.S. National titles at the same Championships.
• Only man to ever win a U.S. National title in three different strokes at one national championship.
• Youngest male Olympian since 1932 (2000 Olympics).
• Youngest man (15 years, nine months) to set a world record, breaking 200m fly mark at the 2001 Spring Nationals.
• Earned the award for Swimmer of the Year for a third time in 2004.
• 2004 - Gold 100m FL, 200m FL, 200m IM, 400m IM, 400m MR, 800m FR-R; Bronze 200m FR & 400m FR-R

Michael Phelps

Ernst Benz Beijing Chronoscope

To celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympics, Swiss watch manufacturer Ernst Benz (http://ernstbenz.com/) has created the Beijing 2008 Limited Edition ChronoScope. The watches are the first in a new series that will be released biannually to celebrate the great cities of the world.

The 47mm watch has been done in two different dial executions, Noir (Black) and Vermilion (China Red) with both versions limited to only 88 pieces hand-finished in brushed stainless steel.

Also an even more limited version of only eight pieces per dial which be available in Black PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coated brushed steel. The dials feature a Traditional Chinese pattern for fire as well as incorporate Traditional Chinese characters for the numerals; with the 8th hour marker done in a contrasting color.

The watch comes in Chinese-themed packaging and wiill be available with the choice of either hand-stitched alligator straps: black with red stitching or red with black stitching. The stainless steel version will retail for $5,800 while the Black PVD coated brushed stainless steel version will retail for $6,800.

Amazing Beijing

Scorpions, most of them still alive, are seen skewered at a food stall in an old Chinese street market close to the touristic Wang Fujing street in downtown Beijing.

Popular Chinese delicacies such as cicadas and crispy seahorses are seen at a market in Beijing.

Miniature sculptures of Olympic events, made by Guo Futian, 52, are displayed at his home in Beijing. Maohou is a Chinese folk art form, in which artists build miniature sculptures using cicada sloughs and magnolia buds.

Hundreds of volunteers wave colourful bright fabric yet are barely visible, during the Olympic torch relay on the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China.

A baby girl with a heart-shaped Chinese flag stuck to her forehead sits in a pushchair in Beijing.

A man shows off his Olympic spectacles in Beijing.

Yao Ming holds the torch as he runs through the Tiananmen Gate during the 2008 Beijing Olympics torch relay.

A man looks at an Olympic-themed embossment in Huairou District of Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 4, 2008. Fan Xiulong, a farmer of Miaocheng Village of Huairou District, creates the embossment to express his good wishes for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The Beijing municipal government has decided to alter working hours for the city's state-owned enterprises from July 20 to September 20 to ensure smooth traffic during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in August and September, the local press reports.

Left: Countdown clock in Tiananmen Square shows only 20 hours 0 minutes and 0 seconds remaining until the start of the Olympics. (Photo credit: Zhang Yanhui/Xinhua)

Right: Peking University First Hospital obstetrician, Hu Baohong, delivers a baby on August 8, at 12:01a.m. (Photo credit: Hao Yuanzheng/Xinhua)

Please visit my blog - Whazzup Mr. MaLao or click HERE or...

http://whazzup-malao.blogspot.com/2008/08/8lb-baby-born-at-808am-on-0808.html

for:

A baby was born at exactly:
Eight minutes past eight;
On the eighth of the eighth 2008;
Weighing eight pounds!!!

Guolizhang Restaurant, Beijing

Next time, when you are in Beijing, try this Restaurant:

Guolizhang Restaurant

If any of you are planning to visit Beijung in the near future and would like to try their delicacies, here are some of the introductions... (enjoy your foods...!!)

The Guolizhuang Restaurant in Beijing.

There are four franchises in the city alone, and the chain is expanding: there's one in Atlanta, Georgia, in Chinatown.

The Guolizhuang menu is a broad introduction to the medicinal benefits of eating animal penises and testicles..

Ox penises help manliness. They're cut along the side and shaped into little stars.

The yak penis is served with a dragon. In the Guolizhuang restaurant there are more than 30 different animal penises on the menu. And for very special guests there's a list of others.

'Henry's whip' is the house speciality at Beijing's Guolizhuang restaurant. It's a sheep's penis on a stick covered in mayonnaise, sweet cheese, served on a bed of lettuce.

A platter of ox and dog penises. The consistency and taste remind one of overly bitter rings of calamari, apparently.

The penises are often dipped in soy or hot sauce. For women, eating penises is supposed to be good for the skin.

Donkey penis served on a bed of lettuce: For Chinese guests, eating the sexual organs is not a test of courage, but rather a treatment for the libido.

'The Chinese eat everything with four legs, except tables -- and everything that flies except airplanes,' goes a Chinese saying.

At the Guolizhuang restaurant, customers can even order deer and sheep fetuses.

08.08.08 Opening of XXIX Olympic In Beijing

Fireworks go off during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Getty Images)

Dancers perfromences. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Fireworks go off during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Basketball player Yao Ming of the People's Republic of China carries his country's flag during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Liu Qi, President of BOCOG, addresses the crowd during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Olympic flag bearers Xielin Zhang, Duo Pan, Fengrong Zheng, Yang Yang, Ling Yang, Xiangxiong Mu, Ni Xiong, Lingwei Li carry the flag into the stadium. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Members of the Chinese military march to to the flag pole to raise the Olympic flag. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Members of the Chinese military raise the Olympic flag next the China flag. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Olympic flag and the Chinese national flag flying side by side at the National Stadium. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Athletes stand in the center of the stadium during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Hu Jintao, President of China, is seen on a screen as he speaks during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium. (Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Fireworks explode over the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Li Ning, former Olympic gymnast for China flys through the air on his way to lighting the Olympic Flame. (Photo by Getty Images)

The Olympic Flame is lit during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Fireworks go off as the Olympic flame is lit by Li Ning, former Olympic gymnast for China. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Olympic flame burns a top the stadium during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Olympic flame is seen during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Olympic flame burns a top the stadium during the Opening Ceremony. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

The Olympic Flame is lit during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium from August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)