China's Quest To Build The Biggest & Tallest

He's right, of course. We have traveled down four-lane highways that, were it not for the rice paddies and water buffalo, could be anywhere in the United States or Europe.

But while road engineering may be one of the most beneficial aspects of China's progress, it's not the most fascinating aspect about its sprint to first-world development status.

More compelling is the Chinese authorities' apparent obsession with building superlatives: the world's biggest dam, the world's biggest airport terminal, Asia's tallest skyscraper and the world's highest railway. You get the picture.


Symbols of political power or intellectual heft?


This obsession with creating and surmounting engineering challenges has not gone unnoticed. Critics of the central Chinese government dismiss these high-profile projects and massive infrastructure schemes as nothing more than political or nationalistic grandstanding, symbols that reinforce Beijing's power and authority.

Especially when it comes to the splashy landmarks built in the capital itself. "In the new Beijing, the state only protected sites that served to bolster its own self-justifying version of history," wrote Jasper Becker in a new book, "City of Heavenly Tranquillity."