Inferno destroys Beijing tower

A massive fire engulfs a tower in the soon-to-be completed headquarters complex of China's national TV broadcaster. WSJ's International News Editor Rebecca Blumenstein provides more details and speaks with colleague Adam Najberg about China's fire safety amid a rapidly growing city.



A fireman is reported dead and six others injured after a huge fire consumed part of China Central Television's new building complex in Beijing on the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday. An initial investigation showed that the fire had been caused by illegal firecracker launches. Video courtesy of Reuters

National Grand Theater, Beijing

Located near Tiananmen Square, the 490,485-square-foot glass-and-titanium National Grand Theater, scheduled to open in 2008, seems to float above a man-made lake. Intended to stand out amid the Chinese capital's bustling streets and ancient buildings, the structure has garnered criticism among Bejing's citizens for clashing with classic landmarks like the Monument to the People's Heroes (dedicated to revolutionary martyrs), the vast home of the National People's Congress, or Tiananmen Gate itself (the Gate of Heavenly Peace).

French architect Paul Andreu is no stranger to controversy -- or to innovative forms. A generation ago, in 1974, his untraditional design for Terminal 1 of Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport was criticized for its unusual curves, yet Andreu's groundbreaking, futuristic building later was seen to distinguish de Gaulle from more generic European and international air hubs. (The same airport's Terminal 2E, also designed by Andreu, gained attention in 2004 when it collapsed, tragically killing four people.)

Beijing's daring National Grand Theater is as much a spectacle as the productions that will be staged inside in the 2,416-seat opera house, the 2,017-seat concert hall, and the 1,040-seat theater. At night, the semi-transparent skin will give passersby a glimpse at the performance inside one of three auditoriums, a feature that highlights the building's public nature.

Beijing's new airport takes off

Beijing has opened a huge new £1.8 billion airport terminal today ahead of this summer's Olympics.

The terminal's two mile long concourse, which is divided into three sections and connected by a shuttle train, will boost capacity at the airport to 76 million compared with the 52 million who used the airport last year.

The new airport terminal is supposed to resemble a dragon, complete with triangular windows cut into the ceiling as though they were scales. It was designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster, who also designed Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok airport.

It has almost double the number of boarding gates of the old terminals and nearly 300 check-in desks. The terminal has been built to maximise the use of natural light, with walls of glass.

Air travel in China is booming, on the back of growing tourism and rising domestic incomes, with 200 million passengers expected to take to this skies this year, up from 185 million last year.
The country plans to build nearly 100 new airports by 2020 to cater for this demand, many in remote, economically backward areas.

Six airlines will use the new terminal initially, including British Airways, Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Qatar Airways, Qantas and El Al Israel Airlines.

More will move in from March 26, including Air China, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and other Star Alliance members, as well as Emirates and Hong Kong's Dragonair.

The terminal also has special bridges to handle Airbus's giant double-decked A380 superjumbo.

(via Flightmapping)