The National Centre for the Performing Arts (Chinese: 国家大剧院), formerly known as the National Grand Theatre, and colloquially described as The Egg, is an opera house in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The Centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 6,500 people in three halls and is 200,000 m² in size. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

Located in the heart of Beijing, near Tiananmen Square, the theater is a modern-style building which stands out from its surroundings. it is Beijing’s new futuristic National Grand Theater.

The main building of the National Grand Theater consists of an exterior shell, within which are a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall, a 1,040-seat theater, a lobby and other supporting facilities. The exterior is a shell in the shape of a half ellipsoid with a long east-west axis of 212.20 meters and a short south-north axis of 143.64 meters. It is 46.285 meters tall, and it reaches to a maximum underground depth of 32.50 meters. Most of the shell is covered by titanium panels, and it is broken in the middle by a curtain of glass that opens gradually from top to bottom. The pool surrounding the ellipsoid shell covers an area of 35,500 square meters; the main north entrance is an 80-meter-long corridor under the pool. The south entrance and other passages are under the pool too. The pool is surrounded by leisure squares made up of large greeneries.

The initial planned cost of the theatre was 2.688 billion Renminbi. When the construction had completed, the total cost rose to more than ¥ 3.2 billion CNY. The major cause of the cost increase was a delay for reevaluation and subsequent minor changes as the precaution after a Paris airport terminal building collapsed. The cost has been a major source of controversy because many believed that it is nearly impossible to recover the investment. When the cost is averaged out, each seat is worth about ¥ half a million CNY. The Chinese government answered that the theater is a not for profit venture.

• 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. It has 1,040 seats.

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