Big, interesting stuff: The capital's full of it! Photos: CFP and courtesy of Nathan Beardsley

By Nathan Beardsley

If you read the papers you'll know that Beijing is just about to go up a gear in terms of expansion. Mass underground development is on the frothy lips of greedy developers, and a second international airport is being planned.

But dramatic growth is certainly not a new concept in this city, and this is evident in citywide claims to fame that remind us, the general public, of why the capital is called "The Capital." So now, presenting for one month only, "Beijing's Biggies" – then flip the page to discover the stuff of legend with our city's incredible record breakers. Jiayou Beijing!

In the world

Largest Ruby:

Type in words "ruby" and "biggest" into Google and there's a good chance you'll stumble across a several-hundred-pounder by the name of Ruby Gettinger. Dig a little deeper and a much more significant ruby appears, a fat-free version of the cold and hard type. Yes, the world's largest ruby lives (but doesn't eat) in Beijing. It's made from 8,184 grams of pure ruby goodness, and can be found at Beijing Fugui Tianshi Jewelry Co. Ltd – according to the Guinness Book of Records. Naturally they should have mentioned that no such place exists.

Longest Bible:

When talking about Bibles, as Chinese students do on an almost daily basis, the conversation almost always ends up with the one question everyone wants to know: Where is the longest Bible in the world? Beijing of course! At 5,007 meters long and written on white silk, this Bible tells its fantastic story using 900,000 characters of which this editor understands about three. Run to the Exhibition Hall today to marvel at the work of a single man. Who said China wasn't a good place to be religious?

Biggest KFC:

Warren Liu wrote in his book KFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success that the key ingredients for the fast food chain's rapid spread across China were context, people, strategy and execution, but he clearly forgot to mention the crispy coating. Parked next to Tiananmen Square is reputedly the largest KFC in the world, standing as a shiny introduction to the other 2,000 ‘restaurants' scattered across the land and as a little reminder of just how Westernized this nation has become. Chicken nuggets for everyone!

Most Humongous Plastics

Recycling Plant:

2007 saw the opening in Beijing of the world's largest plant for processing recycled plastic, handling roughly one third of the city's plastic refuse – 60,000 tons of the stuff – every single year. It makes savings of about 300,000 tons of petroleum annually and costs a mere $37.5 million (256 million yuan). From what we can tell, the workforce is mostly made up of friendly old ladies in remarkably clean clothes, scouring subway bins and harassing dehydrated teenagers playing basketball with the Chinese phrase "Have you finished yet?" Richard Branson, take note.

In China

Largest Office Building (and second-largest in the world):

Nicknamed "Big Shorts," the 51-floor CCTV Headquarters in Chaoyang has reputedly the largest office space for any building in the whole world. It is constructed of six horizontal and vertical sections covering 381,000 square meters of floor space, providing ample working environment for the numerous journalists required "to spread the voice." Unfortunately, it now also has a reputation for setting neighboring buildings alight but somehow failing to get live TV coverage – "blah blah, pants on fire."

Most Comprehensive Collection of Imagery of Contemporary China Ever Published by a Single Author:

Christmas might just have passed, but presents could still be on their way thanks to the postal system. With that in mind, why not plan ahead and buy for next year. Living in China provides a handy option of sending slices of culture back to hapless relatives every time there's something to celebrate. But next year, buy them all an Amazon gift voucher with instructions to purchase an astonishing little book called CHINA: Portrait of a People. Photojournalist Tom Carter traveled around China between 2006 and 2008, passing through all of China recording everything he saw with the aid of his trusty camera. It's a startling representation of real China, showcasing in detail the rich and poor, from city and countryside. "Book" now (pun intended).

Largest Zoo:

There was never any doubt that China's largest zoo would be in the capital city. Beijing Zoo is a pretty good place to take the kids and right now it is the perfect season to go – nice and cold. Yes it has a reputation for overcrowding – animals and tourists alike – and yes, it doesn't offer perfect conditions for any of its inhabitants, but it's perfect for Beijing! Take a trip over to the park on the new Line 4 and pay for the experience of a lifetime (not yours, but certainly one of the animals') – you can even pay extra and watch those playful pandas staring at a wall. Sarcasm aside it's a great day out… didn't we say that already?

In Beijing

Biggest Park:

"Mediation stations" are not exactly plentiful in our sprawling metropolis, but by far the best place to escape humanity is Chaoyang Park. At roughly 2.8 by 1.5 kilometers, Chaoyang has Beijing's largest park and it is located next to the former Prince's Palace, close to Tuanjiehu subway station. Apart from some nice greenery the park also offers up flower gardens, a mini-fairground with roller coaster, some outside swimming pools and a smelly (and mostly frozen) lake with enough peddalos to recreate the Anglo- Spanish War. Concerts are sometimes staged there too, like the recent Modern Sky Music Festival (minus all Western threats to society), as well as a yearly International Tourism and Cultural Festival in late September, with lots of tasty grub.

Smallest Bar:

If you are in the mood for a little drink this month, head over to 12SQM and have just that. Beijing's smallest bar – excluding those mini-bars used only in hotel room emergencies – is a minute slice of heaven. They claim a single handmade wooden table with comfy sofa, and bar stools parked beside a pleasant view onto Nanluogu Xiang. Furniture aside (which doesn't take long), we also love the single malt Scotch whisky, as well as their Lavazza coffee beans and espresso machine. Who says size matters? (Don't answer this)

Tallest building:

With 74 floors, four basement levels, and 30 lifts, the China World Trade Center Tower III is the tallest in Beijing at 330 meters (28th in the world). To be absolutely honest though, this isn't a great day out and Taipei, Shanghai and Hong Kong all annihilate it in terms of height. Go for a wander anyway and ride the Schindler 7000 lifts – from the ground floor to the 71st they reach top speeds of 36 kmph and are fast enough to bend time, apparently. Watch this space though because a Chaoyang district official is keen to break that record and hit 400 m or more. Shame it will stand in the shadow of Taipei, Shanghai and Hong Kong – oh yeah, and Nanjing and Guangzhou.

The Guinness Book of WHAT?

Let's face it, everyone gets bored sometimes. But when super-citizens get really bored, that's when the real magic happens. Go to the moon to experience the pinnacle of human technology, but come to Beijing for ultimate examples of pointless creativity. Here we go, strap yourself in, it's time to relive a little forgotten history.

Longest Domino Run:

Proving it really doesn't matter if you are black or white (Michael Jackson), a record 2,751,518 dominoes of various colors were knocked down in 32 minutes and 22 seconds at Peking University's gymnasium, way back in 1999. Students from China and Japan held hands – at least before they started setting up the dominoes over the 40 day loading period – to take the multiple person record. Beijing's fascination with the game continued in 2003 when local resident Ma Lihua made a new solo record of 303,000 at the Singapore Expo. During her six weeks of setting up, cockroaches kept knocking over thousands that turned Ma to tears – Beijing would surely have been a much cleaner choice…

Longest Time Spent in Direct, Full-Body Contact with Ice:

Wang Jintu might be as cold as ice, but he's not willing to sacrifice his love of setting records (Foreigner). Smashing the previous time of 1 hour and 13 minutes, he froze out the hopes of a rival by pushing the mark to 1 hour 30 minutes on the April 17 2008. With ice up to his chin and wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, Wang told the journalists: "I would like to challenge the potential of human beings." Good to know we have that potential.

Largest Photo Album:

If a photo can say a thousand things, the largest album in the world could probably say a million (Ryan Cabrera). Resting closed at four by five meters, this album is the world's biggest and the brainwork of Johnson's Baby China. Bizarrely, instead of holding limitless photos, it works as a scaled-up version of a normal album with six photos per page and 10 pages only. Each photo features a mother and child to show motherly love but ironically it takes two adults to turn a page – seems daddy is needed after all.

Biggest Martial-Arts Display:

Quite literally everyone went kungfu fighting on the morning of 8 August 2009, despite a severe lack of lightning (Carl Douglas). One year after the first anniversary of the 2008 Olympic Games and on the first recognized National Fitness Day in China, 33,996 participants stood outside the Bird's Nest to perform a simplified 24-posture taichi form. Although still technically a form of martial arts, it was probably much safer than 33,996 people playing a game of basketball.

Baggiest Jumper:

When the lyrics "If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away," were written (by Weezer), they clearly weren't taking into account the world's largest hand-knitted sweater. Manufactured by Beijing's Heng Yuan Xiang Co. in April 2007, the monstrous top has a chest measurement of eight meters, a body length of 4.3 meters and a sleeve length of 3.1 meters. Pulling on threads would only result in miles of exhausted walking and little more effect than shortening one arm. Still, there are few things more useless than a jumper too big for anyone on earth.

Coming Soon…

Fastest train: From Beijing to Shanghai in 2012 at 350 kph.

Largest Ferris wheel: Should be in Chaoyang Park by 2010, standing tall at 208 m and offering views of the mountains.

And Don't Forget…

World's Largest City Square: Tiananmen Square (440,000 m²!)

World's Largest underground city: The Underground City (AKA The Great Wall Underground)

World's Biggest Roast Duck Restaurant: Beijing Quanjude Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant (who could have guessed it would have been in Beijing?)

World's Largest Building used for Theatrical Purposes: Great Hall of the People (sits 10,000 wealthy males in black suits)

Beijing's Largest Daoist Architectural Complex: White Cloud Temple (Baiyunguan)

Largest Mosque: Niu Jie Mosque in Hui district (also has a 300-year-old hand-written copy of the Koran)

How's the weather?

Whenever a fresh foreigner arrives in Beijing they always reach a point in their startling induction conversations when an older ï‚"residentï‚" looks at them and says, ï‚"You do realize it gets pretty hot/cold here, right?ï‚" Of course, not even those walking encyclopedias really know the extremes this city has felt. We do! According to the China Meteorological Administration, over the last 60 (glorious) years, the coldest winter hit the city on January 30, 1980, with a temperature of -33.2 degrees Celsius. Worse than that, the hottest summer was felt on June 10, 1961, at a mind-blistering 43.5 degrees Celsius. Thatï‚'s SPF666 for sure.