Just three days ago the pride of the Emirates, the 160-floor Burj Khalifa hotel, celebrated its first birthday. The next day, a Chinese official announced plans to build a $1.3 billion knock off of the "seven star" hotel in Beijing.

The announcement was made at a press conference on Wednesday and, according to China Daily, the new hotel will be built with help from Saudi Arabia.

The Burj Khalifa — the world's tallest building, standing at 2,717 feet — was originally to be named the Burj Dubai after the emirate where it was built. But reality caught up with Dubai when the financial crisis hit, and the grossly over-leveraged emirate was forced to ask for a handout from its wealthy, and less flashy neighbor, Abu Dhabi. Part of the agreement was to rename the tower the Burj Khalifa, after UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

That was a huge burn for Dubai, and the news that China is going to rip off the tower has got to hurt even more. And not only will the new tower steal the Burj Khalifa's glory, but like any good rip off China's version is projected to cost less than the original, too. That's pretty impressive, considering that the Burj Khalifa didn't really have to worry about labor costs.

We can only hope that the Burj Beijing is built just one foot taller than the original.

(via Arabian Business)

[Image via AP]