Old airport's role may change

Once serving as an aircraft performance-testing venue, Nanyuan Airport in Beijing's southern suburban district of Fengtai has seen both the glories and the downside of the aviation industry.

As China's first airport, Nanyuan was mainly used by the military and served as a training center for air and ground troops. It will close by the end of this month as a new facility nearby - Daxing International Airport - opens for operations.

Established in 1910, at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Nanyuan Airport supported a nearby aviation school that had sprung up in 1913, training more than 100 pilots who later became the backbone of China's civil aviation industry.