Nanyuan, China's first airport, closed on September 25, the same day Beijing's $11.5 billion Daxing airport was opened by President Xi Jinping.
The last flight at Nanyuan Airport, China United Airlines flight KN5830, took off at 10 p.m. By September 28, the airport's main sewer was closed and the parking lot was almost deserted.
Nanyuan Airport opened 109 years ago, in 1910, during the Qing Dynasty, China's last imperial dynasty. The more than 100-year-old airport witnessed two world wars, the Chinese Civil War, and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Later, the first Chinese air force squadron to fly over Tiananmen Square departed from Nanyuan Airport. In 1971, when then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger secretly traveled to China to arrange President Richard Nixon's historic visit, he landed at Nanyuan Airport.
Nanyuan Airport has witnessed many important moments in Chinese history.
According to China Daily, Nanyuan will become an aviation museum, and incoming and outgoing flights will be transferred to Daxing Airport.
The stunningly modern Daxing Airport was designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and her Chinese colleagues. The airport now has four runways and a terminal the size of 97 football pitches. Robots will also be used to provide airport and flight information.
Daxing Airport after completion
Daxing can handle 100 million passengers a year and become Beijing's modern gateway to the world.
Compared to Daxing, Nanyuan Airport is much more “backward”, with a boring square shape, rusting traces of time, outdated facilities and limited destination options. Nanyuan is often chaotic due to delays, cancellations and overcrowding. There is also no direct subway line or expressway to this airport.
Beijing residents take souvenir photos after Nanyuan Airport closes
However, even days after its closure, Beijing citizens still flocked to the old airport to reminisce about a part of Beijing's history.
