The Qingzang railway, Qinghai--Xizang railway, or Qinghai--Tibet railway (simplified Chinese: 青藏铁路; traditional Chinese: 青藏鐵路; pinyin: Qīngzàng Tiělù), is a high-altitude railway that connects Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in China.

The total length of Qingzang railway is 1956 km. Construction of the section between Xining and Golmud 815 km rail was completed by 1984. The section of the 1142 km railway between Golmud and Lhasa was inaugurated on 1 July 2006 by president Hu Jintao: the first two passenger trains were "Qing 1" (Q1) from Golmud to Lhasa, and "Zang 2" (J2) from Lhasa.[1] This railway is the first to connect China proper with the Tibet Autonomous Region, which due to its altitude and terrain is the last province-level entity in the People's Republic of China to have a conventional railway. Testing of the line and equipment started on May 1, 2006.[2] Trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xining and Lanzhou.[3]

The line includes the Tanggula Pass, at 5,072 m (16,640 feet) above sea level the world's highest rail track. The 1,338 m Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest rail tunnel in the world, at 4,905 m above sea level. The 3,345-m Yangbajing tunnel is the longest tunnel on the line. It is 4,264 m above sea level, 80 kilometres north-west of Lhasa.

More than 960 km, or over 80% of the Golmud-Lhasa section, is at an altitude of more than 4,000 m. There are 675 bridges, totalling 159.88 km, and over half the length of the railway is laid on permafrost.

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (Chinese: 国家大剧院), formerly known as the National Grand Theatre[1], and colloquially described as The Egg, is an opera house in Beijing, China. The Centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 6,500 people in three halls and is 200,000 m2 in size. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

The Three Gorges Dam (simplified Chinese: 长江三峡大坝; traditional Chinese: 長江三峽大壩; pinyin: Chángjiāng Sānxiá Dà Bà) is a Chinese hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei, China. The total electric generating capacity of the dam will reach 22,500 megawatts,[1] at which point it will be the largest hydro-electric power station in the world by capacity. This is the biggest project that has been undertaken in China since the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Several generators are yet to be installed; the dam is not expected to become fully operational until about 2011.

As with many dams, there is a debate over costs and benefits. Although there are potential economic benefits such as flood control and hydroelectric power, there are also concerns about the relocation of over 1,500,000 people who have or will be displaced by the rising waters; siltation that could limit the dam's useful life; loss of numerous valuable archaeological and cultural sites; and significant adverse effects upon animal life.[2]


Scale of the project
The dam wall is made of concrete and is about 2,309 metres (7,575 ft) long, and 185 metres (607 ft) high. The wall is 115 metres (377.3 ft) wide on the bottom and 40 metres (131.2 ft) wide on top. The project used 27,200,000 cubic metres (35,600,000 cu yd) of concrete, 463,000 metric tons of steel, enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers, and moved about 10,260,000 cubic metres (13,400,000 cu yd) of earth.[8]

The reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam exceeds 660 kilometres (410 mi) in length and 1.12 kilometres (0.70 mi) in width on average, and contains 39,300,000,000 cubic metres (9.43 cu mi) of water, when the water level is at 175 metres (574 ft). The dam will reach its maximum capacity by the end of 2008.[9]


Economics

Three Gorges Dam TurbineWhen finished, the project will have cost no more than 180 billion yuan, over 20 billion yuan less than the initial estimated budget of 203.9 billion yuan, just under 30 billion USD. This calculation accounts for the effect of inflation, and the lower costs are attributed to a low inflation rate in recent years.[10] It is estimated that the cost of construction will be recovered when the dam generates 1000 TWh of the electricity, which will be sold at the price of 250 billion yuan. This will take 10 more years after the dam starts full operation.[3]

Sources for funding include the Three Gorges Dam Construction Fund, revenue from Gezhouba Dam, policy loans from the China Development Bank, loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, corporate bonds, and revenue from Three Gorges Dam before and after it is fully operational, with additional charges for electricity contributing to the Three Gorges Construction Fund. The additional charges are as follows: Every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam has to pay an additional charge of ￥7.00 per MWh. Provinces that will not receive power from the Three Gorges Dam have to pay an additional charge of ￥4.00 per MWh. Tibet does not have to pay any additional money.[11]

Hangzhou Bay Bridge (simplified Chinese: 杭州湾大桥; traditional Chinese: 杭州灣大橋; pinyin: Hángzhōu Wān Dàqiáo), is a bridge with cable-stayed bridge portion across Hangzhou Bay off the eastern coast of China. It was linked up on June 14, 2007,[1] and connects the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. The bridge is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, although it does not have the longest cable-stayed main span. The opening ceremony was held on June 26, 2007 with great domestic media publicity, though after the opening ceremony, the bridge would only be used for test and evaluation purposes. It was opened to the public on May 1, 2008.

Construction of this bridge started on June 8, 2003.World's longest oversea bridge. The bridge itself is 35.673 kilometres (22 mi) long with six expressway lanes in two directions, making it the second-longest bridge in the world after the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. The bridge has two main spans, with a 448-metre (1,470 ft) northern span, and a 318-metre (1,043 ft) southern span.[3] The designated speed is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), and the designed longevity is more than 100 years. The total investment on the bridge was RMB 11.8 billion (US$ 1.4 billion as of December 2004). 35% of this amount was raised from private companies in Ningbo, 59% was provided as loans from China's central and regional banks. Orthotropic steel deck is used on its main spans and five ramp bridges, and was paved with 50 millimetres (2.0 in) epoxy asphalt concrete. The bridge is shaped in an 's', so that the annual silver dragon is minimully affected. The length of the bridge is decorated with flashing lights of different colors to distract from drowsiness, and keep attention on the road instead.

建築奇觀：打造北京奧運之都

Shanghai Maglev Train (Shanghai Transrapid) (Chinese: 上海磁浮示范运营线; pinyin: Shànghǎi Cífú Shìfàn Yùnyíng Xiàn; literally "Shanghai Magnetic Levitation Demonstration Operation Line") is the first commercial high-speed maglev line in the world. Construction began in March 2001, and public service commenced on January 1, 2004. The train was made in Germany with German technology.


Statistics
The line is operated by Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd..

The train can reach 350 km/h (220 mph) in 2 minutes, with a maximum speed in normal operation of 431 km/h (268 mph). During a test run on 12 November 2003, the vehicle achieved a top speed of 501 km/h (311 mph). The Shanghai Transrapid project took 10 billion yuan (1.33 billion US dollars) and 2.5 years to complete the 30.5 km (19 mi) track.

The train runs from Longyang Road station in Pudong on the Shanghai subway line 2 to Pudong International Airport, and the total track length is about 30 kilometres, with an additional, separate track leading to a maintenance facility. The train takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the journey, and its top operational speed is 431 kilometers per hour.

As of November 2006, the one way ticket price is 50 renminbi (RMB) (about $6.33 US dollars) and 40 RMB (US$5.06) for airline passengers with proof of an airline ticket purchase receipt (plane boarding passes are not acceptable). One-way VIP ticket costs 100 RMB (US $12.66). A round-trip ticket costs 80 RMB (US$10.13).

Operating times: 6:45 to 21:30
Highest Speed: 431 km/h (268 mph) (Normal Times) or 300 km/h (186 mph) (Extend Times)
Run time: 7 mins and 20 sec. in Normal Times, while 8 mins and 10 sec. in extend times
Normal Times is 8:30-17:00, Extend Time is 6:45 to 8:30 and 17:00-21:30
Interval: 15 mins.
Ridership: 20% capacity. [1]


Future
Main article: Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train
Maglev ridership has been below expectations, due to limited operating hours, the short line, the high price of the tickets and the inconvenient location of the Longyang Road terminus in Pudong. There is significant local criticism that the project was showy and wasteful, delivering no practical benefit to residents.

Various extension plans have been proposed. In January 2006, the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau proposed an extension to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport via Shanghai South Railway Station and the Expo 2010 site, with a continuation towards Hangzhou. If built, the line would allow transferring between the airports, which are located 55 km (34 mi) apart, in about 15 minutes. The plan for the extension to Hangzhou was approved by the central government in February 2006, with plans for completion by 2010.

The Beijing National Stadium (traditional Chinese: 北京國家體育場; simplified Chinese: 北京国家体育场; Hanyu Pinyin: Běijīng Guójiā Tǐyùchǎng; Tongyong Pinyin: Běijīng Guójiā Tǐyùchǎng), also known as the National Stadium,[1] or the "Bird's Nest" (鳥巢) for its architecture, is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green in Beijing, China that has so far been completed as of March 2008.[2] The stadium will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. It is located east of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre.

In 2002, Government officials engaged architects worldwide in a design competition. Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. Contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, is the Artistic Consultant for design.[3] The ground was broken on Christmas Eve December 2003, and construction started in March 2004, but was halted by the high construction cost in August 2004 and continued again. In January 2008, concerns about construction working conditions arose when it was revealed that 2 workers had died during the stadium's construction.

The stadium can seat as many as 91,000 spectators during the Olympics. The capacity will then be reduced to 80,000 after the Games. It has replaced the original intended venue of the Guangdong Olympic Stadium[citation needed]. The stadium is 330 metres long by 220 metres wide, and is 69.2 metres tall. The stadium uses 258,000 square metres of space and has a usable area of 204,000 square metres. It was built with 36 km of unwrapped steel[citation needed], with a combined weight of 45,000 tonnes. The stadium has some 11,000 square metres of underground rooms with waterproof walls. The stadium will cost up to 3.5 billion yuan (≈423 million USD).

The Great Wall of China (simplified Chinese: 长城; traditional Chinese: 長城; pinyin: Chángchéng; literally "Long wall") or (simplified Chinese: 万里长城; traditional Chinese: 萬里長城; pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng; literally "The long wall of 10,000 Li (里)"[1]) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 200 BC - 220 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.[2]

The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)[3] from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total.[4] At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men.[5] It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.[6]