Consider this the first sign for a capital that's grown too big for its boots...

OK, so Beijing just won't leave its neighbors alone, will it? The original 7th Ring Road projected enough legroom in Hebei (Sanhe, in particular) and a fair bit of Tianjin.

Of course, the 7th Ring Road got nixed in the very end. That kinda made the Beijing planners, eager (it seemed) to move out of the Jing, a tad agitated. Either that, or our Capital Airport up in Shunyi was getting too many planes taking off and landing, so they gave us T3.

But hey, even the gargantuan T3 has an upper limit -- 80 million a year, tops. And the Jing's likely to be it for the long term, so our capital's now thinking of building a 2nd airport. And they're thinking of choosing the airport in -- either Hebei or Tianjin, once again exceeding city limits.

The Whys, Geo-wise:

• North Beijing -- we got one already (Capital Airport)

• East Beijing -- nah, it's too close to Tianjin's Binhai International Airport

• West Beijing -- ooh yeah, good idea -- flattening the mountains for a massive airport... nah...

• South Beijing -- this is it!

So let the dirt fly -- works on Airport Number Two are expected to start before the year 2010 is out. Unlike Shanghai, where Pudong is all-international and Hongqiao is all-domestic, Airport Number Two For The Jing will do both domestic and international, but the Lion's Share of global flights will still remain up in Shunyi.