Check out our list of six things you should know about Beijing’s new Daxing airport.

Walking distance from the central hub to the furthest gate is just 8 minutes! (Cre: Shanghaiist)

This will be a relief to those of you that are constantly late for your flights: Daxing airport is designed in a way that you’re never further than 600 meters from your gate once you pass a security check. That’s where the fidget spinner shape comes in handy.

The construction of the airport took less than five years from start to finish (Cre: Shanghaiist).

In any other country, the construction of such a mega project would have taken much longer. But here in China where the majority of the land is owned by the government, the project was able to go ahead in record speed. The construction was started on December 26, 2014, and it is expected to be in use before September 30 this year, making the construction length around four years and nine months.

Qing dynasty tombs were unearthed during the excavation of the site (Cre: Shanghaiist).

228 Qing dynasty tombs were reported to have been found on the south side of Daxing airport territory in December 2017. The tombs are of single, double, or multi-person burial and were discovered with glazed pottery, bowls, jewelry, and other burial objects. Experts believe they all belonged to one family.

The airport will be accessible in under three hours from 28 cities. The journey to downtown Beijing will take just 19 minutes (Cre: Shanghaiist).

The largest integrated transport hub in the world, Daxing allows for seamless movement for passengers taking the subway, high-speed railway, and airport express. You will get to your final destination without even having to get out into the open air from the airport.

While the current subway speed in Beijing is about 80 km/h, the new trains serving the airport will reach up to 160 km/h.

The well-connected airport will ease the load from the overcrowded Beijing Capital Airport with Air China, Xiamen Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern, Finnair, and other major airlines all moving in.

The 700,000 square meter “iron and steel phoenix” terminal building is the size of about 100 football pitches (Cre: Shanghaiist).

While some distinctive buildings in China have already been given their own nicknames (“bottle opener”, “giant pants”, “Bird’s Nest”), the jury is still out on Daxing. Some have started calling it an “iron and steel phoenix” but we think it definitely looks much more like an octopus or a fidget spinner. Daxing airport is also the size of seven People’s Parks in Shanghai, or 100 football pitches.

Passengers flying from the airport can also look forward to five Chinese style outdoor gardens that will be constructed at the departure lounge. It’s out to impress!

It’s the world’s largest seamless steel terminal structure (Cre: Shanghaiist).

While Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3 is already much larger than Daxing airport, covering the area of 986,000 square meters, this air hub boasts the largest single-terminal airport. It is also the biggest single-slab concrete structure, that was used to build the first floor, and the largest seamless steel roof.

Cre: Shanghaiist