The Long'ao Building (龙奥大厦; also spelt as Long Ao or Longao) is a massively large building in

Lixia District Lixia District () is one of 10 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, East China, forming part of the city's urban core. It borders the districts of Licheng to the north and east, Shizhong to th ...

, Jinan, Shandong Province, China. The building, completed in 2007, serves as the municipal office building for the city of Jinan. The 15-storey-tall building has a floor area of and is one of the largest office buildings in the world and the second largest government office building, after

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

in America (although it is only about larger than the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest). Besides government offices, the Long'ao Building houses public conference rooms, exhibition halls, air defense shelters, archives, medical facilities, and so forth. The Long'ao Building cost about 4 billion yuan (equivalent to about 640 million American dollars) to construct. The construction required 31,000 tons of steel, 150,000 tons of cement, and of stone. The Long'ao Building was first used as the control and news center for the 11th

National Games of China The National Games of the People's Republic of China (), sometimes known as the All China Games (though not to be confused with the All-China Games), is the premier sports event in China at national level. It is usually held once every four yea ...

which were held in Jinan in 2009, after which the building was given over to its current use.

Criticism

The Long'ao Building has about 3,600 offices designed to accommodate 6,000 people, an average of almost per person (The Pentagon, by comparison, accommodates about 26,000 people in its 620,000 square meters, an average of about per person). This relative capaciousness, along with other alleged extravagances, the 4 billion yuan cost, and a perceived lack of transparency in the process of creating the building, has drawn some criticism.

Transport

It is served by Longao Building station on Jinan Metro Line 3.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1102898/shandong-city-builds-massive-pentagon-size-headquarters-4b-yuan , title=Shandong city builds massive 'Pentagon-size' headquarters for 4b yuan , author=Amy Li , date=11 December 2012 , work=South China Morning Post , accessdate=November 3, 2021 {{cite web , url=https://inf.news/en/travel/8f53370061d44080af1383332458bcb0.html , title=The office building in Jinan is known as the largest government building in the world. What is it like? , author=HKT , date=11 April 2021 , work=iNews , accessdate=November 3, 2021{{better source needed , date=November 2021 , reason=We have no idea what this, who runs it, what their fact-checking operation is like, and what if any their bias is. This article contains at least at least a couple wrong statements, which isn't a good look. {{cite web , url=http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-12/11/content_16006779_2.htm , title=City government office largest in Asia , author= , date=11 December 2012 , work=China Daily USA , accessdate=November 3, 2021 {{cite web , url=https://globalvoices.org/2012/12/13/chinas-luxury-disease-extends-to-lavish-government-buildings/ , title=China's 'Luxury Disease' Extends to Lavish Government Buildings , author=Abby Liu , date=13 December 2012 , work=Global Voices , accessdate=November 3, 2021 City and town halls in China Buildings and structures in Jinan 2007 establishments in China