# National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing > The National Centre for the Performing Arts — the Egg — is Beijing's titanium-and-glass opera house in an artificial lake, just west of the Great Hall of the People. Seeing it from outside is free. Without a show, a ¥40 visitor ticket gets you in, Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays. Allow 45 minutes to an hour. Web page: https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/national-centre-for-performing-arts - City: [Beijing](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing), China - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 45 min - Entry: ¥40 building visit, half price ¥20 - Opening hours: Building visits: Tue–Sun 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays. North Gate box office until 19:30 on performance days - With kids: Fine with kids - Visitor ticket: ¥40; half price ¥20 - Free: Children 6 and under or up to 1.2 m, with an adult - Visiting hours: Tue–Sun and public holidays 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30 - Closed: Mondays; individual halls also close on rehearsal days — weekly schedule on the NCPA site - Booking a visit: NCPA website or WeChat 国家大剧院智慧管家, up to 7 days ahead, until 16:00 on the day; box office on site too - ID: Passport — tickets are real-name, one per ID per day - Show tickets: Online only on the Chinese site and WeChat; North Gate box office; phone +86 10 6655 0000 - Children at shows: 1.2 m and under not admitted, except children's shows - Entrance: North Gate; metro Tiananmen West (Line 1), Exit C - Address: 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District - Coordinates: 39.90333, 116.38361 - Facts checked: 04.11.2026 ## Key facts - **¥40** — daytime visitor ticket; half price ¥20 (source: official NCPA website) - **Mon** — closed; Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30 (source: official NCPA website) - **Exit C** — of Tiananmen West, Line 1 — straight to the North Gate (source: official NCPA website) - **Paul Andreu** — the French architect who designed it (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **2007** — opened in December after six years of construction (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **212 × 144 m** — the dome's footprint; about 46 m high (source: official NCPA website; English Wikipedia) - **18,398** — titanium panels, plus 1,226 glass panes, in the shell (source: official NCPA website; English Wikipedia (18,000+ and 1,200+)) - **≈ 80 m** — underwater entrance corridor (source: official NCPA website; English Wikipedia) - **2,207 seats** — in the Opera House; Concert Hall 1,861, Theatre 1,036 (source: official NCPA website; English Wikipedia (Concert Hall 1,859)) - **≈ 6,500 pipes** — in the Concert Hall organ, with 94 stops (source: official NCPA website) > **Not every NCPA show is at the Egg** The NCPA now runs three venues. Besides the dome on Chang'an Avenue there's the **Beijing Arts Centre (北京艺术中心)** and the **Taihu stage** — both out in Tongzhou, on the far east side of the city. Every listing names its hall: 歌剧院 (Opera House), 音乐厅 (Concert Hall) or 戏剧场 (Theatre) on their own mean the Egg; 北京艺术中心 or 台湖 mean a trip to Tongzhou. For example, the NCPA's joint Tosca with the Mariinsky was staged at the Beijing Arts Centre, while the Mariinsky Ballet's Sleeping Beauty played the Egg's Opera House. ## Can you visit the NCPA without a show? Yes. By day the building opens like an architecture museum: **a visitor ticket is ¥40**, half price ¥20. Half price is for people 60 and over and students up to undergraduate level, but the listed documents are Chinese ones; the NCPA doesn't say whether a foreign student card or passport qualifies. Children 6 and under, or up to 1.2 m tall, go free with an adult. Tickets are **real-name**: one per ID per visit day, up to 10 people per order. Foreign visitors book **with their passport** — the NCPA's rules say so explicitly — and the details must match it exactly or you'll be turned away at the gate. Buy on the Chinese-language NCPA website or in the official WeChat account **国家大剧院智慧管家** (剧院畅游 → 参观门票). Sales open **7 days ahead** in limited numbers, and online booking for the same day closes at 16:00. There's also a ticket counter on site; the east desk in the lobby prints paper tickets from your passport or QR code. Online payment goes through WeChat Pay, Alipay or UnionPay — Visa and Mastercard from abroad can be linked to WeChat Pay and Alipay with a passport. The box office takes cash and cards, though the rules don't say whether foreign cards work, so carry some yuan. A visitor ticket doesn't include a show, and a show ticket only lets you in 90 minutes before your performance — it isn't a substitute for a daytime look round. ## Opening hours and Mondays Visits run **Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays, 9:00–17:00**. Ticket exchange and entry stop at 16:30 and the building clears at 17:00. **It's closed on Mondays**, and holiday or special closures are announced separately. The catch: your ticket gets you into the building, **not necessarily every hall**. The NCPA posts a weekly schedule of which halls are open to visitors and when — on rehearsal days the Opera House, Concert Hall or Theatre close for the day or half the day. Some weeks the Concert Hall and Theatre are shut throughout, while the Opera House is open all day Tuesday and Sunday but only until noon on Wednesday and Saturday. Check the schedule (开放信息) before you buy. The performance box office at the North Gate keeps its own hours: the English site says 9:30–19:30 on performance days and 9:30–18:00 otherwise; the Chinese site says 9:00–19:30. The ticket line, +86 10 6655 0000, answers 9:00–20:00 according to the Chinese site. ## How to buy show tickets as a foreigner Officially through the **Chinese-language NCPA website** — the English site says plainly that online sales happen only there — plus the WeChat account and mini-program 国家大剧院智慧管家, a Douyin mini-program, the Jingtong and Bank of China apps, the phone line and the North Gate box office. The NCPA also lists authorised agents including Damai, Maoyan and Poly. For most foreign travellers the easiest routes are **the box office** or **WeChat**. The website needs an account and an ID number at checkout, and some performances only admit you with the original ID that matches the ticket. The NCPA names passports for building visits but just says "valid ID" for shows — bring yours either way. Agent apps often want a Chinese phone number (unofficial). Prices vary by production and seat and are shown on each performance's page. Big operas and touring orchestras sell out early, and **tickets can't be refunded or exchanged** except for force majeure, through the channel you bought from. Online orders must be paid within 10 minutes or the seats are released. The box office stops selling 15 minutes before curtain. The building opens **90 minutes before** a show and the auditorium 45. Latecomers wait and are seated at a break between pieces or acts; if a concert half is a single work, there's no entry until the interval. > **What to wear and what to leave behind** The dress code is relaxed: the NCPA asks for **neat clothes** and suggests **something smarter** for performances, and it can refuse entry to anyone scruffy or drunk. You don't need a suit, but skip shorts and flip-flops for an evening at the opera. Food, drinks and even water aren't allowed in, nor are flowers, e-cigarettes, power banks over 20,000 mAh, selfie sticks, tripods or oversized bags. No photos or recording during performances, and no flash anywhere. ## What to see inside - **The underwater corridor**, about 80 m long, from the north entrance — you look up through the glass ceiling at the lake. The free tour gathers here. - **The Opera House**, 2,207 seats, wrapped in a golden metal mesh — the heart of the building, though not open to visitors every day. - **The Concert Hall**, 1,861 seats, with **an organ of about 6,500 pipes** and 94 stops, the largest in China according to Wikipedia. - **The Theatre**, 1,036 seats, used for drama and traditional Chinese opera. - **Art halls**, a fifth-floor exhibition hall and an art salon with changing exhibitions — some charge extra, marked at the door and in WeChat. - **The lobby under the dome**, where a glass seam in the shell lets in the sky — and, after dark, the lights of Chang'an Avenue. - **Free guided tour** in Chinese at 10:00 and 14:00, 40 minutes. The English site mentions an English tour without times or price; paid tours are booked on +86 10 6655 0876. ## What is the Egg? The National Centre for the Performing Arts is China's flagship opera and concert venue. The French architect **Paul Andreu** won the design competition; construction began in December 2001 and the centre **opened in December 2007**. Its Chinese name, 国家大剧院, means "national grand theatre", but the shape earned it the nickname **the Egg** almost at once. The dome is a half-ellipsoid **212 m by 144 m** and about 46 m high, with no internal columns. Its shell is made of 18,398 titanium panels and 1,226 glass panes. Around it is an artificial lake of roughly 3.5 hectares, and you enter underneath it, so the dome seems to float. The deepest foundations go 32.5 m below ground. It sits a block from Tiananmen Square, directly behind the [Great Hall of the People](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/great-hall-of-the-people). A futuristic dome beside 1950s monumental architecture was controversial when it was built; today it's one of Beijing's most recognisable modern buildings. ## How to get to the NCPA 1. **Metro to Tiananmen West**, Line 1, **Exit C** — it brings you straight out at the NCPA's North Gate. That's the theatre's own recommended route. 2. **From Tiananmen Square**: one stop west on Line 1 from Tiananmen East, or walk west along the south side of Chang'an Avenue past the Great Hall of the People — about 1 km, 15 minutes. 3. **From Capital Airport (PEK)**: Airport Express to Beixinqiao, Line 5 south to Dongdan, then Line 1 west to Tiananmen West. 4. **From Daxing Airport (PKX)**: Daxing Airport Express to Caoqiao, Line 10 to Gongzhufen, then Line 1 east to Tiananmen West. 5. **Taxi or DiDi**: ask for 国家大剧院北门 (North Gate). Drivers enter the car park from the northeast or northwest side. 6. There's a bag check at the door. Finish or bin your water before it — it won't get through. ## Is it worth visiting, and how long do you need? From outside the Egg is worth a look for anyone near the square — it's **free**, and best after dark when the dome is lit and mirrored in the water. Good angles are from the north, by the main entrance, and from the northeast on the avenue. The ¥40 daytime visit, 45 minutes to an hour, is worth it if you love architecture or can't make a performance. If the weekly schedule shows the Concert Hall and Theatre shut and the Opera House only open until noon, you'll mostly see the lobby and corridor — pick another day. The best way in is **a performance**: you get 90 minutes inside before curtain and see a hall doing its job. Opera, ballet and symphony concerts need no Chinese, and touring productions often have surtitles. On a short first trip the [Forbidden City](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/forbidden-city) and [Temple of Heaven](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/temple-of-heaven) come first; the Egg fits neatly into an evening after the square. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] It isn't a Monday - [ ] Checked this week's hall schedule on the NCPA site - [ ] Visitor ticket booked with my passport — or a show ticket - [ ] The show's listing says a hall at the Egg, not Tongzhou - [ ] Original passport with me - [ ] Arriving before 16:30 for a visit, or an hour before the show - [ ] No water, food or tripod - [ ] Smart-ish clothes for the evening - [ ] Some cash in yuan or WeChat Pay set up ## The Egg vs its Tiananmen neighbours | | The Egg (visit) | Great Hall of the People | National Museum | Tiananmen Gate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Entry | ¥40, half price ¥20 | ¥30 | Free | ¥15, concession ¥5 | | Booking | Up to 7 days; same day until 16:00; box office | 1–3 days, WeChat only | Up to 7 days | Up to 7 days | | Hours | 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30 | ≈ 9:00–15:00 | 9:00–17:00 | Morning to mid-afternoon | | Mondays | Closed | Sources disagree | Closed | Closed | | Evenings | Performances and the lit dome | No | No | No | The only one of the four you can get into in the evening, and the only one with tickets on the door. A good way to end a day around the square. ## Beijing after dark compared Places in Beijing worth going to after sunset, as rated by YesGo. - [National Centre for the Performing Arts (The Egg)](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/national-centre-for-performing-arts) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥40 building visit, half price ¥20 - [Wangfujing Street](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/wangfujing-street) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Beijing hutongs](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-hutongs) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free; rickshaw about ¥100–200 - [Nanluoguxiang](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/nanluoguxiang) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, open 24 hours - [Houhai Lake and Shichahai](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/houhai-lake) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free - [Olympic Park and Bird's Nest](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-olympic-park) — YesGo score 30/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Park free; Bird's Nest ≈ ¥50–100 - [Central Radio & TV Tower](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/beijing-tv-tower) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · CNY 90 - [Gubei Water Town and Simatai Great Wall](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/gubei-water-town) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥140 entry; ¥170 with Simatai wall - [Longqing Gorge](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/longqing-gorge) — YesGo score 16/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 4 h · ¥40, boat ¥100 ## An afternoon around Tiananmen Square The gate and the square by day, the Great Hall before 15:00, then the Egg for a show or the lit dome. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Tiananmen Gate](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/tiananmen-gate) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥15, concession ¥5, booking only 2. [Tiananmen Square](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/tiananmen-square) — YesGo score 68/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · Free, passport booking 3. [Great Hall of the People](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/great-hall-of-the-people) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · ¥30, students ¥15; WeChat booking 4. [National Centre for the Performing Arts (The Egg)](https://yesgo.io/china/beijing/national-centre-for-performing-arts) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · ¥40 building visit, half price ¥20 ## Tips - Check the weekly hall schedule before buying a visitor ticket — rehearsals shut the main halls. - Come at 9:00 or for the free 10:00 tour; weekday mornings are quiet. - After an evening show, walk round to the north pool: the lit dome reflects in the water. - Bring your passport to performances too — some only admit you with ID. - Don't buy from touts at the door: tickets are real-name and non-refundable. - There's a café and restaurant inside — you can't bring your own food or water anyway. ## Questions ### What is the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing? China's flagship opera and concert venue — a titanium-and-glass dome in an artificial lake next to Tiananmen Square, with an Opera House, Concert Hall and Theatre inside. Everyone calls it the Egg. ### Can you go inside the NCPA without a show ticket? Yes, with a visitor ticket: ¥40, half price ¥20, Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30. Book with your passport on the website or WeChat up to 7 days ahead, or buy at the counter. ### Is the NCPA open on Mondays? Not for visits — Monday is the closing day. It's open Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays. Performances follow their own calendar. ### How can foreigners buy NCPA tickets? Easiest at the North Gate box office or through WeChat (国家大剧院智慧管家). Online sales are only on the Chinese-language site. Bring your passport — some shows check ID. ### How much are performance tickets? It depends on the production and the seat; each performance page on the official site shows its prices. Tickets can't be refunded. ### Is there a dress code at the NCPA? Neat clothes are required and smarter dress is suggested for performances. Staff can refuse entry to anyone scruffy or drunk. ### Can children go? For a visit, yes — under-6s or children up to 1.2 m go free with an adult. At performances, children 1.2 m and under aren't admitted except to children's shows. ### What's the nearest metro station? Tiananmen West on Line 1. Exit C comes out at the North Gate. ### How long does a visit take? 45 minutes to an hour for the lobby, corridor and open halls; the free Chinese-language tour lasts 40 minutes. For a show, arrive an hour early. ## How we checked Visitor ticket price, concessions, hours, Monday closure, passport booking rules and the metro exit come from the official NCPA website, along with the audience rules, payment options, dress code and the weekly hall schedule. Visit Beijing's 2020 page still lists ¥30 and family combo tickets — old prices; the official site now gives ¥40 and ¥20. Box office hours differ between the Chinese (from 9:00) and English (from 9:30) versions of the site, so we give both (Visit Beijing says from 9:30). Dome height is 46.68 m on the NCPA site and 46.285 m on English Wikipedia, and the lake 3.55 vs 3.43 hectares, so we say about 46 m and about 3.5 hectares. The Concert Hall has 1,861 seats per the NCPA and 1,859 per Wikipedia. Whether the box office takes foreign cards, and whether foreign IDs qualify for half price, isn't stated officially. Card linking to WeChat Pay and Alipay is from travel guides (unofficial). The English tour is mentioned without details. ## Sources - Official NCPA website (Chinese): visitor tickets, purchase and attendance rules, audience etiquette, payment, directions, guided tours, building descriptions - Official NCPA website (English): tickets and box office hours - English Wikipedia: National Centre for the Performing Arts (China) - Russian Wikipedia: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Visit Beijing (Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism) --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.