Beijing is set to open an eye-catching multi-billion dollar airport resembling a massive shining starfish, to accommodate soaring air traffic in China and celebrate the Communist government’s 70th anniversary in power.
Work on the Beijing Daxing International Airport officially ended on schedule Sunday, ready for a September 30 inauguration — on the eve of the anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, by Mao Zedong.
Celebrations of that event will see President Xi Jinping reviewing a huge military parade through the centre of Beijing, with the opening of the futuristic hub a fitting embodiment of the “Chinese dream” he has offered his fellow citizens.
Located 46 kilometres south of Tiananmen Square, the new airport will operate at full capacity in 2025, with four runways and the potential to receive 72 million passengers per year.
