The three-theater complex — previously referred to in English as the New National Theater and popularly nicknamed "The Egg" — was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Built at a cost of about 2.7 billion yuan (currently about €250 million or US$364 million), it includes a 2,416-seat opera/ballet house, a 2,017-seat concert hall and a 1,040-seat theatre. Surrounding the building is a shallow artificial lake and a municipal park.
The new National Center opened in late September with a series of trial performances for selected dignitaries and invited guests (including local residents whose homes had been razed to make room for the complex). The first singer to perform an aria there was President Jiang Zemin himself (during a daytime pre-opening visit); the first work presented was the ballet The Red Detachment of Women, one of the best-known artifacts of the Cultural Revolution and the dance work referenced in the John Adams opera Nixon in China.
Public performances at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing begin on December 22.