Editor's Note: "Only China can do it," exclaimed the movie blockbuster "2012" attempting to explain why the fictional Noah's Ark was built in China and the country could help save the world from a cataclysmic doomsday.
But despite the irony of the line from the Hollywood box office hit, through its great size, population and need for flaunting, China has indeed developed a can-do attitude when it comes to massive infrastructure projects.
Here we take a look at the top ten "building big" projects completed or under construction all across China.
1. Beijing Subway Line 4
With a total length of 28.2 km, Subway Line 4 runs through four districts in the western part of Beijing and has 24 stations. A one-way run takes about 47 minutes.
2. Jinan Olympic Sports Center
The Jinan Olympic Sports Center, located in east of Jinan, capital of Shandong province, served as the main sports venues for the 11th National Games in October 2009.
The center is composed of four main parts: The Olympic Sports Center Stadium, The Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, The Indoor Tennis Stadium, and The Olympic Sports Center Natatorium. The overall layout of the center is known as Donghe Xiliu, literally meaning "East Lotus, West Willow," since the city flower and tree of Jinan are the lotus and Chinese willow, respectively.
It took three years and more than three billion yuan to build the center. Zhang Zhongming, Director of the Center, said October 20 that the government invested so heavily in building the Olympic Center not simply for holding the 11th National Games, but also aiming to provide a base to satisfy the public's needs for entertainment and sports.
It's not going to overshadow Beijing's Olympic venues, but it can stand on its own in both scale and aesthetics.
3. Zhoushan Sea Bridge
A cross-sea bridge linking Zhoushan City, China's only city of more than 1,000 islands in eastern Zhejiang Province, with the country's mainland went into trial operation on December 25, 2009.
Costing 13.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion), the 46.5 km-long Zhoushan Sea-crossing Bridge, so far the longest of its kind in the country, was completed after 10 years of construction.
4. Guangzhou Subway Line 5
Line 5 of the Guangzhou Metro started trial operation on December 28, 2009. Phase I of the Line runs 31.9 kilometers in length with 24 stations.
The subway network in Guangzhou will stretch to 222 km ahead of the Asian Games in November 2010, according to officials.
5. Sun Valley
The cone-shaped "Sun Valley" in the Axis of World Expo 2010 lights up in Pudong section of the Shanghai Expo Park in the build-up for the upcoming 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
The Exposition will be the first registered World Exposition in a developing country.
6. Xiaowan Hydropower Station
The first unit of the Xiaowan Hydropower Station built by the Huaneng Group in Yunnan Province started to generate power September 25, 2009.
Xiaowan Hydropower Station lies in the middle and lower reaches of the Lancangjiang River in Fengqing County and Nanrun County of Yunnan Province.
It boasts 6 generating units with a total capacity of 4.2 million kilowatts and an overall water storage capacity of 15.13 billion cubic meters.
With a maximum height of 292m, the Xiaowan Dam is so far the world's highest hyperbolic arch dam.
7. Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel-Bridge
Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel-Bridge，currently the world's largest tunnel-bridge structure, linking Shanghai to two of its major islands with an expressway for the first time, was opened to traffic on October 31, 2009.
The projects cost more than 12.6 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), and are expected to boost the development of the islands, create space for Shanghai's future development and provide closer link with the Yangtze River Delta region.
8. Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway
The super-fast Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed electric multiple units (EMUs), independently developed and devised by the China CNR Corporation Limited (CNR), started a promotional trial run in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province December 23, 2009.
The line stretches more than 1,000 km and will slash the travel time from Wuhan, Hubei province, to Guangzhou in Guangdong from 10 hours to just three.
9. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
Once completed it will be the world's longest cross-sea bridge bringing more integration to China's southern economic hub of Guangdong Province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.
Construction is already underway, a move widely expected to bring economic ties closer for the region.
10. Qingdao Gulf Bridge
The Qingdao Gulf Bridge, a 35-km long sea-flyover designed to connect two peninsulas of the Jiaozhou Bay, is now busy under construction in east China's coastal province of Shandong.
The entire length of the bridge will be 35.4 kilometers. The bridge is scheduled for use in 2010.
China Daily
