Not the Onion

China has always been about weird projects on a large scale. For one there's the desire to show off its greatness and second, the incompetent or fearful mid-level management unable or unwilling to say no. So every once in a while, a project gets announced, gets made shoddily, embarrassment ensues and heads roll.
And the thing is, we see it happen in the US all the time. That company that promised launching a rocket every other day is a recent example.