National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing

National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing (must see)

The National Centre for the Performing Arts, colloquially described as The Giant Egg, is an arts centre containing an opera house in Beijing. If you wish to enjoy the quintessence of China, you must not miss the Beijing Opera on your trip to Beijing. Also known as the Oriental Opera, this is the most significant form of Chinese opera in existence for the past 160 years.

Beijing Opera has witnessed an abundance of repertoires, opera troupes, artists and spectators through the ages. Developed from the “Huiban”, a local drama art of the 18th century China, Beijing Opera has grown into a scenic art that integrates literature, performance, music, face-painting and aria.

Ever since it came into existence, Beijing Opera has had different names such as Pingju, Daxi, Jinghuang and Jingxi. Four artistic methods namely dancing, dialogue, singing and martial art are used by the artists in Beijing Opera to present dramatic figures and plays.

Male characters, known as Xiao Sheng and Lao Sheng, are the two groups of male characters in the opera. Xiao Sheng refers to beardless young men and Lao Sheng to bearded middle-aged wise men. Dan or female characters, on the other hand, are subdivided into Laodan – senior women, Huadan – little girls at the bottom rung of society, Zhengdan – middle-aged, strong women, and Wudan – female fighters.

Why You Should Visit:
Incredible building from the outside, but with even more surprising things hidden inside.
Beautiful to discover, comfortable, optimized for music enjoyment and world class shows.

Tip:
Do check for the performance schedule online, as orchestras & musicians from around the world come to perform here on a regular basis.
Go in the day, well before shows start, to get a better choice of seats and prices, or you can just join the visiting tour for walking around inside the hall and viewing the exhibition.

Visiting Hours:
Tue-Sun: 9am-5pm

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Beijing. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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National Centre for the Performing Arts on Map

Sight Name: National Centre for the Performing Arts
Sight Location: Beijing, China (See walking tours in Beijing)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark

Walking Tours in Beijing, China

Create Your Own Walk in Beijing

Create Your Own Walk in Beijing

Creating your own self-guided walk in Beijing is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Olympic Park Walking Tour

Olympic Park Walking Tour

The Olympic Park in Beijing was built for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2008. This modern complex represents a contemporary architectural approach as compared to the more traditional buildings that dominate the city. Among its signature items are the iconic Bird's Nest, otherwise known as the main Olympic stadium, and the beautiful Water Cube – the Aquatics Center for water sports.
...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.6 Km or 3.5 Miles
Beijing's Historical Temples Tour II

Beijing's Historical Temples Tour II

The places of worship are some of the best links to the city's history. The unique churches, Buddhist and Taoist Temples, and beautiful Muslim Mosques all tell great tales of the history of Beijing. Despite that many of them have been partially or completely destroyed over the years either by wars or by the changes of political power, a good number of them still remain. You can visit a few...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles
Beijing's Historical Temples Tour I

Beijing's Historical Temples Tour I

Chinese temples are of unique beauty and have withstood many dynasties. However because the temples have always been connected to the imperial families, many of them were destroyed when the last dynasty ended in 1911. Nevertheless, a great number of beautiful temples with great history still stand in Beijing. Take this self-guided walking tour to discover a few famous temples in the northern part...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.9 Km or 0.6 Miles
Beijing City Center Walking Tour

Beijing City Center Walking Tour

A political, cultural, and economic center of China for the past eight centuries, Beijing is the newest of the country's Four Ancient Capitals.

The city boasts the grandest and best preserved imperial palaces, gardens and temples, including seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, and parts of the Great Wall...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.7 Km or 2.3 Miles

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