China's miraculous airport now open - PHOTOS

Unhinge your jaw -- Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport’s avant garde and eco-friendly new terminal is now open for fliers.

The futuristic building in the southern Chinese city replaces three airport terminals, which ceased operation on Wednesday following three test runs of the new facility.

Shenzhen's new terminal, designed by FUKSAS, an Italian architectural firm, resembles a mobula, commonly known as a flying ray.

The connection? The Chinese word for "blessed" sounds like "mobula."

The new terminal -- which reportedly cost 8.5 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) to construct -- is three times larger than the current terminals combined, providing 76 airplane slots.

Although it's far from being the biggest in China -- Beijing’s new Terminal 3 is about twice as large -- the 451,000-square-meter new terminal in Shenzhen, which is about 40 kilometers from Hong Kong, could very well be one of its greenest.

The terminal has 200 check-in counters and approximately 200 shops.

The first flight from the terminal, operated by Shenzhen Airlines, is scheduled to depart for Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, via Wuhan, on Thursday morning.

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The honeycomb-patterned windows in the ceiling allow for maximum penetration of sunlight, reducing energy consumption.

Rainwater is collected and recycled in toilets and used to water indoor plants.

It's the first airport in China to feature a 10-megawatt solar power plant, which cranks out enough power to support 10,000 U.S. households per month.

Other interesting features include 116 white tree-shaped air conditioners that blend in with the terminal's interior design. The A/C trees pull triple duty, also serving as the public address system and fire equipment.


/CNN/