6.The National Centre for the Performing Arts

After years of preparations, China's gleaming new National Center for the Performing Arts, a futuristic dome made of glass and titanium shimmering in the midst of a large reflecting pool, hosted its first public concert over the weekend in Beijing.

The Dec. 22 program, televised live throughout the nation, featured two orchestras, the China National Symphony and the Beijing Symphony, with two conductors and four choirs taking part. Four young violinists, all recent Paganini Competition winners, shared a concerto. The guest soloist of honor was pianist Yundi Li, with an international career and a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

Nestled west of Tian'anmen Square, the Center, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, is one of several large new architectural showpieces commissioned by the Chinese government in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Construction began in December 2001 and was completed in late September this year. The complex includes three performance spaces: a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall and a 1,040-seat theater. The total cost of construction was more than $330 million. Many say the ultramodern edifice seems out of place in its current setting near the Forbidden City, while others hail it as a signature building demonstrative of the capital's modernity.

The first foreign company to take the NCPA stage is that of the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg (still marketed in the U.S. under its Soviet-era name, the Kirov Opera and Ballet). Conductor Valery Gergiev and his forces begin a 12-days-of-Christmas residency tomorrow with Borodin's opera Prince Igor; other repertoire they've programmed for Beijing include the ballets Swan Lake, Le Corsaire and George Balanchine's Jewels.

The New Year's Eve and New Year's Day concerts at the National Center feature Seiji Ozawa conducting the China National Symphony Orchestra with guest soloists Vadim Repin, Kathleen Battle and Lang Lang. The pianist, who enjoys celebrity status in his homeland, will also give solo recitals on Jan. 3 and 4. Just before that, on Jan. 2, Kiri Te Kanawa's worldwide farewell tour also makes a stop there.