The National Grand Theater in Beijing Chang'an Avenue is an outstanding building designed by French architect Paul Andrew. The complex consists of a main building (containing three performing venues: the Opera House, the Concert Hall, the Theater), an underwater corridors, an underground garage, and an artificial lake.
Why National Grand Theater is special
To describe National Grand Theater, there could not be a better word than “eye-catching”. Except for the outstanding appearance, National Grand Theater is loved by the performance art lovers. Symphonies, dance shows, ballets, dramas, operas and other kinds of performances are frequently staged there, attracting amounts of audience from all over the country.
National Grand Theater highlights
Magnificent exterior
The exterior looks like a steel-structured oval shell is an ingenious material integration made of over 18,000 titanium plates and over 1,000 sheets of white glass, creating a vivid visual effect as if the curtain is drawn apart slowly before your eyes. All the passages and entrances are built underwater. When audiences walk into the center, a layer of water is above their head.
Three Performance Venues
The Opera House, the Concert Hall and the Theater are the three performance venues inside the center. They are separated houses but connected by air corridors. Operas, dance dramas, ballets, and large-scale shows stage here. 2091 seats are set inside and the tickets for standing room are available when the performance is in great demand. The seamless ballet stage is believed to be the largest one in China, whose surface is made of Oregon timber.
By the east side of the Opera House situates the Concert hall where to stage the large-scale symphonies and Chinese traditional music. The silver white color makes it elegant and serene. The ceiling of the hall looks like waves, and it is actually a propitious to the diffusion of the sound. 1859 seats are available here. The pipe organ placed in the hall with 94 stops and an impressive array of 6,500 pipes is the largest one of Asia.
The theater is the last performance venue. The design of the theater features a distinct Chinese traditional style. Traditional Chinese operas, stage plays and national songs and dances are the major performance of the theater. Zhejiang's silk covers the walls, creating the atmosphere full of strong Chinese traditional taste. The stage highlights bridging the audience and the performers.