There are two airports in Beijing. Every time Guo Shuangchao goes on a business trip, he chooses to fly via the Beijing Daxing International Airport, nicknamed the Starfish of Beijing. That's because he is among its builders.

Whenever his plane is about to take off or land, he cannot help giving a careful look at the airport, observing its runways, towers and corridors. "Every brick carries a lot of memories as well as a sense of achievement," Guo told Beijing Review.

Guo is vice manager of the General Contracting Department of the Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG). He has taken part in 10 key projects in his 18-year-long career. Two of these projects are particularly impressive: the construction of the Starfish of Beijing and the Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing.

 

The 'starfish' 

The Beijing Daxing International Airport was the biggest project for Guo. The first time he entered the construction site on March 15, 2016, he found it boundless. "I had to walk at least 2 to 3 km to get to my living quarters," Guo said.

The construction team worked on a tight schedule. Half a year after Guo's team was stationed in the construction site, five young coworkers got married, but none asked for wedding leave. BCEG has over 30,000 employees, yet only 150 were involved in the construction. "It is a priceless opportunity to participate in a key project. Not wanting to drag their feet on the construction, they volunteered to postpone their wedding leave," Guo said.

Guo was deeply moved and wanted to do something for his friends. "We decided to host a group wedding ceremony for them so that they all had the chance to share the unique experience with their friends," he said.

The big day came on December 12, 2016, an auspicious date in Chinese culture. The five couples' parents, relatives and friends were invited to the site. Grooms wore overalls and helmets. The brides' wedding dresses were customized. "We also provided them tailored rings modeled after the airport that you won't see anywhere else," Guo said. He added that when the work schedule was not too tight, the five couples took their wedding leave and enjoyed their honeymoon.

After nearly five years of hard work, the new airport was put into operation on September 25, 2019. "It's huge and passenger-friendly," Guo said. The airport has a radial layout. The distance between the central area and the farthest boarding gate is 600 meters of walking distance, much less than that at many other terminals, said Guo.

In addition, there is a hanging garden at the end of each waiting hall. After making their way through security, passengers can still go outdoors for a breath of fresh air. "It aims to humanize the waiting time in the airport," Guo said.

"Finishing each project is like seeing your child grow into an adult. It's very fulfilling," Guo said.

Before the project's completion, Guo's wife and triplet daughters came to visit the airport. The children were happy and took pictures, which today still hang on the wall of their home. "They often tell others proudly that the airport was built by their father," Guo said.

 

A race against time 

During the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Guo's company, BCEG, built the Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing in seven days to treat SARS patients. At that time, Guo went for an interview with the company before joining it. Seventeen years later, the hospital was renovated to receive COVID-19 patients. Guo, now a veteran architect, took part in the project. "It's the first emergency project I had a hand in," Guo said.

It turned out to be a tough job. COVID-19 broke out before the 2020 Spring Festival, when workers were off. Villages and communities were locked down from the second day of the lunar year. It was hard to recruit workers. Guo's company mobilized all its powers to find workers and supplies, and sent buses to villages to pick up workers who willingly returned knowing they were to build a hospital to fight COVID-19.

The most touching part for Guo was that many project managers at other construction sites volunteered to participate in the Xiaotangshan Hospital renovation project even if they were just assigned to clear roads. "In the face of the epidemic, we wholly supported the government's work," Guo said.

To enable the hospital to function as soon as possible, renovation ran 24 hours a day in three shifts. At the project's peak, Guo's team supervised around 5,000-6,000 workers at the construction site. With so many workers, COVID-19 prevention was crucial; nearly 200 people worked purely on epidemic control and prevention.

Moreover, the 2020 winter saw three heavy bouts of snow in Beijing. Members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and some younger members of the project team volunteered to clear the snow. "It was a race against time," Guo said.

Generally, the timescale for such a project is two years. However, after non-stop construction, a new and advanced hospital was rebuilt in 53 days, less than one 10th of the normal time needed. On March 16, 2020, the hospital went into operation, ready to screen and treat inbound cases.

"Though I am not a doctor, I'm proud to have contributed to the battle against COVID-19," Guo said. In 2020, Guo was awarded two top honors: role model in China's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and outstanding CPC member recognized by the CPC Central Committee.

A concrete superpower 

Though the aforementioned buildings were for different purposes, they share one thing: They were built incredibly fast. The airport was completed in less than five years, only half the average timescale for a similar project, according to Guo. The hospital was built at a much faster speed.

Some projects have been completed faster. In January 2018, Chinese workers built the Longyan Station in nine hours in Fujian Province. One month later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk retweeted the story on his Twitter account and commented that "China's advanced infrastructure is being built 100 times faster than in the U.S."

Why is infrastructure construction in China so fast? Guo explains that streamlined government examination and approval procedures, comprehensive industrial capabilities, advanced logistics networks, competition among giant contractors and abundant skilled workers are all reasons that make China a concrete superpower.

First, the Chinese Government has a comprehensive system for supporting the construction of key projects. "The government works very efficiently at every stage, from design approval to environmental assessment, construction and acceptance check," Guo said.

Second, China's comprehensive industrial capabilities, convenient logistics network and capacity to produce homemade materials, ensure that everything is supplied on time.

Third, whenever there is a key infrastructure project, more than one qualified contractor is hired to work on it. "It's like a competition. Every company tries its best to demonstrate its strength and speed," Guo said. This way, contractors seize every second to finish the tasks according to the contract. Last but not least, China has sufficient skilled workers to finish high-quality projects on time.

Guo is proud to have participated in the construction of the airport and the hospital. The experience has done wonders to his confidence. "I won't feel nervous facing any project in future. Nothing is impossible as long as we work hard," Guo said.

(Print Edition Title: The Concrete X-Factor) 

Copyedited by Ryan Perkins 

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