PLA Daily 2003-05-20

　　Once a wheat field, the Xiaotangshan Hospital---the biggest infectious disease hospital in China, was completed in seven days and started operation on May 1. Thus in this ongoing nationwide battle against SARS, the "speed of Xiaotangshan Hospital" has become widely known throughout the country.

　　Premier Wen Jiabao said: "The speedy completion of the Xiaotangshan Hospital has fully reflected the Party and the government's determination to curb the SARS disease, and has displayed our country's comprehensive national strength and capability to handle emergencies."

　　A local resident recalled that it was just a plot of wheat field when I left for downtown several days ago, when I came back, a large hospital miraculously appeared.

　　Some 4,000 workers and 500 machines from six construction firms in Beijing were assembled at the construction site 20 hours after the decision was made. It took only four days for the workers to install all hospital facilities, which in normal days would take at least two months.

　　Five days after an order from the Central Military Commission, 1,200 military medical workers from the PLA and the Armed Police Force rushed to the Xiaotangshan Hospital, ready to perform their mission.

　　The "speed of Xiaotangshan" has demonstrated the inexhaustible strength from the cooperation between the army and the people, said Zhang Yanling, the head of the hospital.

　　(May 20, PLA Daily)