Adjacent to the monolithic Great Hall of the People, French architect Paul Andreu’s space-age conception attracted a fair amount of criticism for its cost (RMB 490,000 a seat) and dust-gathering capabilities (maintenance of the glass dome and surrounding moat is said to run up to hundreds of thousands of RMB daily). Since its opening in December 2007 though, praise for the stunning design, particularly beautiful at sunset, and the superb in-house acoustics has drowned out these criticisms. Continuing the trend of giving monikers to new monuments, the NCPA has been dubbed the ‘Egg’. Entrance to the three performance venues housed under the dome is via a passageway running under the moat, and the vast central atrium features stones from every region in China. Presently, attracting a string of world-class performers appears to be less of a problem than finding the appreciative local audiences that this venue deserves.
