Paul Andreu's Egg Shell is Complete

Paul Andreus Egg Shell is Complete
The amazing National Grand Theater, under construction next to the Great Hall of the People near Tian'anmen Square, is scheduled to open in April 2007.

The 2.68-billion-yuan (US$328 million), egg-shaped theatre, with an area of 160,000 square meters, will seat 6,000 people when completed in December 2006.

A new landmark and cultural symbol for the capital, the National Grand Theater, designed by world famous French architect Paul Andreu, boasts an enormous glass and titanium teardrop-like bubble structure surrounded by water.

Wang Zhengming, head of the Theater Proprietor Committee, said that now the 1200-piece-glass wall construction has been completed with 20,000 titanium plates, the theater already has a sense of grandeur.

From the audience's rest hall, people can see clouds in the sky and the traffic on the Chang'an Avenue to the North of the theater.

"No one walking along the Avenue can resist its attraction," commented Wang on the outside of the Theater.

Situated in the center is the magnificent Opera House, with a music hall on the East and drama hall on the West.

All the equipments for perform