Performance Tip: Use DocumentFragment
docfrag.php:
<?php
//only for PHP 5.1
$doc = new domdocument();
$doc->loadXML("<root/>");
$f = $doc->createDocumentFragment();
$f->appendXML("<foo>text</foo><bar>text2</bar>");
$doc->documentElement->appendChild($f);
print $doc->saveXML();