Chengdu's New Century Global Centre is latest symbol of China's economic might and massive ambition. New Century Global Centre, located in Chengdu (population 14 million), capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, is nearly completed. At 500 meters long, 400 meters wide and 100 meters high, Chinese officials are calling the 1.7 million square meter mega structure the largest freestanding building in the world, capable of housing 20 Sydney Opera houses and almost three times the size of the Pentagon in Washington. The Global Centre will house offices, conference rooms, a university complex, two commercial centers, two five star hotels, an IMAX cinema, a "Mediterranean village", a skating rink and a pirate ship, among other attractions. About 400 thousand square meters will be devoted to shopping, most of the outlets high-end luxury brands. Despite Chengdu being around a thousand kilometers from the sea the complex has a marine theme, with fountains, a huge water park and an artificial beach, accented by the undulating roof, meant to resemble a wave. This is an ocean city built by man. There will be 1000 rooms (in the hotel) and all will have seaside views. The thick smog that normally blankets Chengdu risks making it a sunless sea, but visitors will not need to worry about that, as designers borrowed a Japanese technique. There will be an artificial sun that will shine 24 hours a day and allow for a comfortable temperature. The system uses specialized lighting technology that heats as well as illuminates. A giant screen 150 meters long and 40 meters high will form the horizon and offer sunrises and sunsets, accompanied by nautical breezes. The centerpiece will be a 5 thousand square meters artificial beach, to include a rafting course and a "seafront" promenade, complete with parasols and seafood outlets that can accommodate 6 thousand people. Ground was broken for the New Century Global Centre in 2010 and (the building) is estimated to open to the public this April. In recent years China has witnessed lots of phenomenal constructions. The world's longest high-speed rail line (2.298-kilometer-long), which spans over half of China, began operating at the end of last year. In April, 2012 the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge has been completed in China, which linked together two tunnels 1176 meters apart, and 355 meters above Hunan's Dehang Canyon. Again in 2012 Chinese mass media reports, that Changsha, China's Hunan province will be home to world's tallest building, which will be built in just 7 months. 220-store building will be 838 meters high.

On January 30 during the "2nd Annual Emerging Airports Conference and Exhibition" held in Dubai the results of votes for over 20 nominations were announced. As reported the "Zvartnots International Airport's" official website, the nominations were different: "Best Emerging Airport of the World", "Best Emerging Airport of Middle East", Best Emerging Airport Europe", etc. According to the results for the nomination "Best Emerging Airport of Russia, CIS & Baltic States" Yerevan "Zvartnots International Airport" is the best in CIS. The new terminal of "Zvartnots" airport put into operation on September 16, in the framework of events dated to the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence. Zvartnots International Airport also was nominated by the company Arabian Reach, Dubai for "EMAA" (Emerging Markets Airports Award). Besides "Zvartnots" four airports of CIS countries, namely: "Domodedovo" and "Sheremetevo" airports of Moscow, "Pulkovo" airport of St. Petersburg, "Manas" airport of Bishkek were nominated, as well. Voting lasted for more than a month. During the award ceremony the award was received by the General Manager of "Armenia International Airports" CJSC Marcelo Wende.

A Florida home has sold for US$ 47 million, a record for a single-family house in Miami-Dade County, as the high-end real-estate market shows signs of resurgence. The home was originally listed for US$ 60 million and had been on the market since early 2011, when construction was still being completed. The asking price for the Indian Creek Village home was reduced to US$ 52 million this year. The identity of the buyer, a Russian who bought the home in the name of a U.S.-based limited-liability company, couldn't be learned. The Indian Creek estate is on a small gated island, with a private golf course, that is home to a number of celebrity residents, including Julio Iglesias. The 2790 square meters home has glass walls overlooking Biscayne Bay and was designed to feel like a private resort. It was constructed across a series of limestone pavilions divided by waterways with koi ponds, in a style that architect Rene Gonzalez described as "conceptual." There is a central courtyard with landscaped walls, as well as a beach with several tons of sand imported from the Bahamas, chosen over local sand for its pinkish color. The home also has a hidden art vault, a projection 3-D movie theater and a wine cellar accessed with fingerprint identification. The furnishings were custom-designed for the space. The sellers of the 10-bedroom estate are developers and longtime friends, Shlomi Alexander and Felix Cohen, who built the home on speculation, expressly to sell. Construction began in May 2008.

The world's longest high-speed rail line, which spans over half of China, began operating at the end of last year, further cementing the country's high-speed railway development ambitions. The 2,298-kilometer railway connects Beijing in the north to Guangzhou in the south, and it more than halves the travel time between the two cities. Trains running on the new high-speed line hit 300 kilometer per hour, cutting the total journey time by more than 12 hours. The major stops along the way between China's capital and Guangzhou in the south will include provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Changsha. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, citing the Ministry of Railways, more than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day. China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program. But it has in recent months faced high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train's construction, and the ministry's chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation months before the crash. With the opening of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed line, China now has more than 9.3 thousand kilometer of high-speed railway in operation. The new line is one of four north-south lines expected to serve as the country's high-speed railway backbone, which also features four east-west lines. According to the 12th five-year plan for railway development, by 2015, China will have around 120 thousand kilometer of railway in operation, including 18 thousand kilometer of high-speed railway and an express railway network of 40 thousand kilometer, which allows speeds of over 160 kilometer per hour. Preparations for a new high-speed line linking the central Chinese cities of Zhengzhou and Xuzhou are underway. The line will intersect the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail line and the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, which started operations on June 30 last year.

Construction began on world's tallest modular building, a 32-storey residential tower in Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards development by Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects. Nearly 60 percent of the B2 tower will be prefabricated off-site. This means the complex will produce 70-90 percent less waste and will reduce energy consumption by 67 percent during the building phase. Controversy has swirled around this strategy, as it will cut union worker wages from US$ 85 an hour for on-site construction to only US$ 35 an hour in a factory setting. The development also drastically cuts the number of workers needed, leaving only 125 lucky laborers on the job. The flipside to this is that the overall cost and energy will be also being cut. B2 is the first of three new residential towers planned around the Barclays Center, the 19,000-seat indoor sports and music arena that opened this September. Both were designed by Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects as part of the controversial Atlantic Yards development. The three buildings will provide around 1500 residential units in total, half of which will be earmarked as affordable housing. B2's 363 apartments are expected to be available for occupancy in summer 2014. While developers and city officials hail B2 as the world's tallest modular building, construction is also set to begin on a modular tower in Changsha, China, which at 838 meters, or 220 story's, would be the tallest building in the world - and construction firm Broad Sustainable Building says the tower, called Sky City, will go up in just 90 days. Recently the prefab Hotel in China's south-central Hunan province standing 30 stories was erected in an incredible 360 hours or in 15 days. The hotel built Chinese sustainable-building firm Broad Group and the building is designed to withstand up a 9.0 magnitude earthquake - and even boasts energy-efficient building techniques. In 2010 Broad Group during 6 days built another prefab building, the 15-story Ark Hotel in the Changsha Province, demonstrating fantastic speed of prefab building construction.