NCPA to celebrate anniversary with free shows

Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will mark its sixth anniversary on Sunday with art performances and activities, it announced on Tuesday.

The venue has designated December 22 a Public Open Day, and a special festival has been arranged for the occasion. From 9 am to 4 pm that day, the shell-shaped NCPA will host 19 stage shows, 11 art lectures, six exhibitions and more than 50 public performances.

The total audience for the events will be limited to 15,000, with free tickets distributed through various channels to people representative of different trades, including model workers, according to the center's press release.

Over the past six years, more than 10 million people have enjoyed performances or educational activities at the NCPA, which has stuck to its basic goal of developing "for the people, for art and for the world." Meanwhile, it has produced 35 refined Chinese or foreign theatrical programs. Its most acclaimed shows have included the Western opera Turandot, Beijing opera Red Cliffs and stage drama Wangfujing.

"The NCPA will continue to produce quality programs in the future. And through the 'outreach' strategy, we'll do a better job in telling China's story and conveying Chinese messages to the rest of the world," NCPA Vice President Wang Zhengming said.