http://blogs.spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/2008/04/heathrow_terminal_5_update_onl.htmlJust arrived Beijing a few hours ago. Came in via the new Terminal 3. Here is what I was thinking from the time I arrived to the time I unbelievably quickly cleared customs:-- It's huge-- It's huge-- It's so incredibly big-- It's awesome-- It's hugeCo-blogger Steve Dickinson arrived Beijing from Shanghai around 20 minutes before I got here from Seoul and I called him to figure out where to meet. We decided we would meet in front of the Starbucks at domestic. I took a 3 minute or so train and found the Starbucks and called him again. Turned out I was in the wrong terminal so had to take a bus to Terminal 2. The bus took about 15 minutes and it was hotter than hell. More thoughts on the new terminal:1. It's really incredibly large2. It actually works3. It's not bad looking. Not bad at all.4. Why are the damn shuttle busses packed to the gills and not air conditioned?5. Why are the terminals so far apart that at one point I thought I might have accidently gotten on the bus going to the city center, not another terminal? Got to Terminal 2 and found Steve. Read up a bit on Terminal 3 (here, here, and here) and all of this got me to thinking. Heathrow has been having all kinds of problems with its new terminal. Denver International barely worked during its first couple of years. And yet, Beijing builds the largest terminal ever and it seems to work flawlessly from day one. So here's my question. How is it that this can be accomplished and yet securing quality products from China's factories is so problematic?