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No nation on earth has sought its wide-ranging modernization as rapidly and dramatically as China. The transformation of its capital, Beijing, from an ancient walled city to a modern international capital and a new centre for international commerce, high technology and finance, energized with the inspiration of the 2008 Olympic Games, is well under way. But with its many temples, its many sections of the Great Wall of China and its rich cultural legacy sprung from antiquity, Beijing is also becoming an important international centre for contemporary arts and culture.

Nothing epitomizes Beijing’s “coming of age” more than the new National Grand Theatre, an architectural wonder located on Chang’an Jie (Avenue) immediately west of Tian’anmen Square and the Great Hall of the People.

China's futuristic National Grand Theatre was unveiled to the public in September 2007.

Affectionately referred to as the “Egg Shell,” the magnificent glass-and-titanium structure rests like a drop of liquid mercury in a pool of water with its front facing Chang’an Jie. It is a theatre like none other.

The National Grand Theatre is encountered with a short walk west of the north end of Tian’anmen Square. There you may cross a green space before descending seven metres into an 80-metre-long underground gallery where a bright glass roof is all that stands between you and the water rippling overhead. At the end of the gallery is a huge lobby, perhaps the largest in a theatre anywhere in the world. Through the giant window in the lobby, you can see clouds in the sky and the traffic passing on Chang'an Jie (Avenue) to the north.

"Though it has been the subject of much controversy since 2001 when construction of the Egg Shell began, few have been able to resist the allure of the bubble-shaped theatre, which is covered by glass and titanium and surrounded by the greenery and water," said Wang Zhengming, deputy head of the National Grand Theatre.

"And once inside the Egg Shell, you will be even more impressed by its innovative design and decor. It is a new landmark, a cultural symbol of Beijing." Here, people will be able to enjoy operas, plays and concerts in top-class comfort.

Because of its controversial architectural style and location, the theatre project has been hotly debated since its construction began six years ago. And that's why its chief designer, French architect Paul Andreu hopes he will not disappoint his Chinese audience.

"I think that the people of Beijing are very curious about it. I think they want to come in to this building that they've seen from outside for weeks, and even for years now. They want to come in and have a look: it's been made for all of them, the audiences and the visitors. They're all welcome, I'm waiting for them."

After five years of construction, the enclosures around the National Grand Theatre were removed on September 25 to give the public a clear view of the magnificent building.

The giant oval, with a 212-metre major axis and a 143-metre minor axis, is big enough to cover the Workers' Stadium. The aboveground part of the theatre, 46 metres in height, is only one-third of the entire building. The underground part, 32.5 metres at its deepest point, is equivalent to a ten-floor building.

At its centre is its magnificent Opera House, with a music hall on the east and drama hall on the west. The opera hall, the biggest of the three, can hold an audience of 2,400. The concert hall features the largest pipe organ in Asia, valued at 30 million yuan (US$4 million).

The theatre’s seats were specially designed. Air conditioning equipment will be installed under each seat, to give audiences a cool feeling while watching some of the world's best shows.

An 80-metre long underground corridor will link the theatre to the Tian'anmen West Station of Beijing Subway Line No. 1.

Acoustics were a prime consideration in all stages of the building process, from design to construction, including the choice of materials, according to Wang. Even without amplification on the stage, audience at all four corners of the theatre will be able to hear performances, whether symphonies, western-style operas, or dramas.

Construction workers have overcome many technical difficulties since building began in December 2001. The theatre is divided into two parts by a curved, laminated glass covering at the bases of the north facade and the south facade. During the day, light flows through the glass roof into the building. At night, the movements within can be seen from the outside.

To test the equipment, seven shows including Swan Lake by the National Ballet of China, Dream of Grand Dunhuang by the Lanzhou Song and Dance Company, and Tea House by the Beijing People's Art Theatre were staged from September 25 to October 13.

The concert hall and theatre will formally open by yearís-end. Some 183 shows from China, the United States, Russia, France, Italy and other countries will be staged during the premiere season till the end of March 2008, said Deng Yijiang, press officer of the theatre.

To ease traffic congestion, the theatre has access to the subway. There are also underground parking spaces for 1,000 cars and 1,500 bicycles.

There are many special features: audiences will have access to all telecommunications signals until a performance begins. The National Grand Theatre has reserved 3G interfaces, which cover three standards of TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and CDMA2000. Ericsson, which is in charge of communications of the National Grand Theatre and Beijing Subway Line No. 10, has reserved interfaces for three standards of 3G in the process of construction. As a major State project, the National Grand Theatre is built according to international top theatre standards and the wireless communication system includes CDMA, GSM, personal access phone system (PAS), 3G systems and WLAN wireless access.

In an emergency, audiences can vacate the theatre within six minutes.

The new landmark and cultural symbol will be an entertaining site for all who visit, within and without the theatre itself.

To admirers, it's a pearl; to critics, an expensive mistate

Opponents claim the theatre clashes with its surroundings: the giant columned parliament building, the Great Hall of the People, next door, and the red-walled Zhongnanhai compound, where China's leaders live and work, across the street to its north. The area has long been a centre of power, not a theatre district.

Its critics assert that Andreu's bubble disrupts Beijing's imperial-era geometry, already traumatized by breakneck construction that has seen swaths of traditional courtyard homes disappear under glass-and-tile office blocks. Its cost was reduced to about 4.7 billion yuan ($566 million) after critics found it excessive. It was redesigned.

Andreu, whose previous designs include the towering Grande Arche de la Defense west of Paris and Shanghai's light and airy new airport is not surprised by the criticism. "I always knew it would be a political project. That is normal. Nothing can be liked by everyone," he said.

When he introduced the National Grand Theatre of China to the first group of visitors, he explained the most controversial underwater tunnel.

"The building is connected to the shore by way of a 60-metre-long, transparent underpass. This entrance leaves the exterior of the building intact, without any openings, and remains mysterious-looking, while providing the public with a passage from their daily work to the world of opera, fiction and dreams.”

Despite all the doubts, he is quite confident. “It is true that this form is completely new, completely different from others. In this place you have the Forbidden City, which is historical thing. We have the Tian’anmen, which reflects the thinking of the architecture of quite another period. That is history as it goes. I think the respect to this environment. It is not copying. But putting the different building in a position where you can have a kind of conversation. Humanity is that. I feel my building is not crushing the Great Hall of the People. Is it Chinese or not? Everything in China will become Chinese.”

Many people were startled by the appearance of the Sydney Opera House when they first saw it, but this masterpiece, designed by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon, become an icon in the history of modern world architecture. Now, Andreu has created another phenomenon in China.

"Our culture is like our relationship with our parents," he said. "We respect them, but we don't have to do the same… I am not the master of the building. The building is the master. You are the servant of the building; that's what you are, when you are an architect.”

In recent years Beijing’s outlook has changed rapidly. Many old buildings have been demolished and new ones built. Beijing is now becoming the most popular “city under construction” in the world.

After more than 50 years of renewed construction, great changes have taken place in Beijing. Since the 1990s, notable works of architecture that combine Chinese and western styles have been erected in the capital. In addition to the National Grand Theatre, there are the National Stadium or “Bird’s Nest,” the Olympic Stadium for the 2008 Games, one of the three landmark buildings built specifically for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, jointly designed by Herzog and De Meuron Architekten Ag, Switzerland and China Architecture Design Institute, and the new CCTV Building designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Some projects are still in the blueprint stage.