Chinese media, advertising, and urban life.

When the new terminal of Beijing Airport first opened at the end of March, the general impression from visitors was that it was absolutely huge.

But maybe it's not big enough: author Han Song posted a photo-essay to his blog in which he compares the "T3" to a local train station: overcrowded and chaotic with not enough seating space and lines that go on forever. He's also got some interesting observations on the new terminal's anti-terrorist techniques.

The capital airport's new terminal (T3), constructed for the Olympics, has a futuristic style to it like something out of Heinlein's science fiction. But upon entering, it's like a county train station, and its waiting areas aren't even as convenient as those in a county train station. Lots of people were sitting on the floor or on top of their luggage. I stood in line for my boarding pass, and halfway to the front the ticket counter attendant said that the machine was broken. So I switched to another line, and waited from 2:20 to 3:20 pm before I got my boarding pass. People walked back at forth like it was market day. There was someone holding a megaphone and shouting, and there were blackboards on the scene, too.