Just last year (2013), Chengdu saw the opening of the world’s largest building by floor space, the gigantic New Century Global Center. Its main fixture is the New Century Global Mall, which occupies the center of the complex.
We woke up this morning to take the Chengdu Metro Line 1, to the center. Chengdu currently has two metro lines, one going east-west, the other going north-south. When completed, the Chengdu Metro will have 8 lines in total, providing high-speed transit service to nearly the whole city.
Coming out of the metro tunnel for the first time, I was not prepared for the shrinking feeling upon seeing this gigantic building. At 100 meters tall and half a kilometer in length, there is nothing of compare, save for the equally large plaza surrounding the facade.
The center didn’t get any smaller inside. We were welcomed by a 300-feet-tall ceiling and a giant birthday cake.
Everything in here is huge. For the first hour, you get the feeling that you’re a midget in a regular-size marble-clad mall.
Sadly, the water park cost 180 CNY per person (about $30 USD), so we didn’t go inside. Instead, we opted for the skating rink. I confess, I had never skated before.
So how big is New Century Global Center? In addition to the 400,000-square-meter mall, it has enough space to host a 1000-room hotel, a water-park with artificial beach and faux Mediterranean Village, a university campus, and several conference rooms. In total, the Global Center’s floor area covers 1.7 million square meters, or about 434 acres. You can fit 328 football fields in that space, or over 1400 swimming pools. It is a sight you must see in person to believe.
One thought on “China, Day 8: The largest building in the world!”