世界第一高建筑"哈利法塔"

Well, now, here it is. The Persian Gulf City State, known as Dubai is home of the world's tallest building by a long shot. It's called the Burj Khalifa and it officially opened its doors today.

A huge accomplishment demands a celebration to match, fireworks lighting up the world's tallest skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates. Developers describe the Burj Khalifa as a vertical city, mixing offices and luxury apartments throughout 200 floors. On a clear day, you can see the top of the building from almost 60 miles away. That's because it's a record-setting 2,700 feet tall, more than 1,000 feet higher than the previous record holders: Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. The Burj is 50 stories higher than America's tallest building Chicago's Willis Tower once known as the Sears Tower and it's more than twice as tall as the Empire State Building.

It's the highest. It's the biggest. But, you know, will human beings really enjoy this building?

There's plenty to enjoy including four swimming pools, the world's tallest performing fountain, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani. To help folks reach their destinations, the building includes 57 elevators. Constructions on the Burj Khalifa began back in 2004 and involved some 12,000 workers. At times, they were adding a floor every 3 days. The developer tells us it costs about 1.5 billion US dollars total. But the project casting a shadow on Dubai, it's been struggling with massive loads of debt and many buildings which are largely vacant after a construction boom led to overbuilding. And like much of the rest of the world, the real estate bubble in Dubai burst.

“Crisis come and go and the world have gone through two years of difficult times, we must have some hope and optimism that we must move on.”

Well, Dubai is moving on at least for now thanks to a multi-billion dollar bailout from its neighbor Abu Dhabi. As a sort of thank you, Dubai has named the new tower after Abu Dhabi's leader, this man, Khalifa is his first name. Prior to today the tower was known simply as Burj Dubai. And in case you're wondering, we still don't know for sure what's gonna be on the top floor. But we do know that a mosque will be at or near the tiptop.