Beijing Mysteries: Ghost Skyscrapers of Dongzhimen

Ghost Towers seen from other building

China is renowned for its shadiness the world over.  From counterfeit nikes to expired meat, the middle kingdom's got it all folks.  My first entry in the Beijing Mysteries series seeks to highlight one of the city's more charming and mysterious shady wonders.  So if you're like my mother and still smarting about being ripped of by vendors while buying a mahjong set, sit back, relax, and learn that sometimes China's shadyiness isn't all bad and usually only mildly hazardous to your health.

Ghost Towers at the end of the airport
expressway 

Dongzhimen is one of Beijing's most important places and the largest transport hub in Asia (title disputed).  Across the Second Ring Road from the colossal China Petrol Headquerters stands a monumental mall and twin-tower complex.  Towering 35 stories in height, the buildings lords over almost every other structure in Beijing (Beijing isn't that tall on average.  Sort of a forest of 10-15 story structures).  Through some impressive detective work, I learned the complex has been vacant for seven years.  The structures stands topped out with the highest five floors completely open.  From ground level, it's easy to see the large number of missing windows that have either been broken or fallen out.

Ground level

Countless buses and the chaotic Beijing subway rumble underneath the unfinished structure, but few commuters seem to wonder about the giant white elephant at street level.  Occasionally I'll catch the curious foreigner snapping photos of the building, but on average almost know one seems to know any details about the structure.  This is insane considering the prominence of the thing.  The structure stands at the terminus of Beijing's airport expressway and is literally the first major thing that most visitors to the city see when they arrive in central Beijing.       

Built but never used

Beijing's largest movie set lets foreigners and native Beijingers get that oh-so-missing taste of North Korea-eque showmanship that China's economic modernization continues to stamp out.  With the ongoing political purge, it's little wonder most in Beijing don't stop to ask why a 600,000 square meter building that was supposed to be finished for the 2008 olympics still stands partially completed.  At least you can still shop at one of the intersections two completed mega-malls for all your needs.