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 The
exterior of the theater is a titanium accented glass dome that is completely
surrounded by a man-made lake. It is said to look like an egg floating
on water. It was designed as an iconic feature, something that would be
immediately recognizable, like the Sydney Opera House.
The National Grand Theatre, viewed from the North-East, from Jingshan
Hill, with the Forbidden City in the foreground and the Great Hall of
the People to the left. The dome measures 212 meters in east-west direction,
144 meters in north-south direction, and is 46 meters high. The main entrance
is at the north side. Guests arrive in the building after walking through
a hallway that goes underneath the lake. The titanium shell is broken
by a glass curtain in north-south direction that gradually widens from
top to bottom.
The location of the National Center for the Performing arts is immediately
to the west of Tiananmen Square and the
Great Hall of the People, and near the Forbidden City. Combined with the
theatre's futuristic design, its once created considerable controversy.
Paul Andreu, the chief architect, countered that although there is indeed
value in ancient traditional Chinese architecture, Beijing must also include
modern architecture, as the capital of the country and an international
city of great importance. His design, with large open space, water, trees,
was specially designed to complement the red walls of ancient buildings
and the Great Hall of the People, in order to melt into the surroundings
as opposed to standing out against them.
 Internally,
there are three major performance halls:
The Opera Hall, mainly used for operas, ballet, and dances, with total
2,416 seats.
The Music Hall, mainly used for concerts, total seating capacity 2,017.
The Theater Hall, mainly used for plays and the Beijing opera,
total seating capacity 1,040.
Admissions to the theater vary from even to event. Please check the center's
official website for
upcoming scheduled performances, concerts and other events, seat availabilities
and ticketing information.
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known as the National Grand Theater, and colloquially described as The
Egg, is an opera house in Beijing. The Center, an ellipsoid dome of titanium
and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 6,500 people in three
halls and is 200,000 square meter in size. It was designed by French architect
Construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held
in December 2007. Ever since, the Center has attracted tens thousands
of tourists, making itself a new and hot attraction in the modern setting.
Tourist Information
