National Centre for the Performing ArtsⅡ

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 dome measures 212 meters (695.5 feet) in east-west direction, 144 meters (472.4 feet) in north-south direction, and is 46 meters (150.9 feet) 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. Internally, there are three major performance halls: the Opera Hall is used for operas, ballet, and dances and seats 2,416; the Music Hall seats 2,017 seats; the Theater Hall is used for plays and the Beijing opera, and it has 1,040 seats; the initial planned cost of the theatre was 2.688 billion RMB. The completion of China's National Centre for the Performing Arts is a historic accomplishment, demonstrating the country's strengths and marking a new chapter in the country's development. As the foremost national performing arts institution, the Centre is made possible by the solid support and guidance from both Central and Beijing municipal governments. Following the mandate of 'For the People, For the Arts, For the World', the Centre is devoted to becoming the national center for the performing arts, a grand platform for international cultural exchanges and a vanguard of arts education as well as an important foundation for the creative cultural scene in China.