56 Best Performing Arts in China

One of the nicest venues in Beijing, the 1,400-seat Forbidden City Concert Hall plays host to a variety of classical, chamber, and traditional music performances in plush surroundings and with world-class acoustics. Though the facilities are completely modern, concertgoers are treated to a moonlit walk through Zhongshan Park, a former imperial garden dotted with historical landmarks.

Don't underestimate the popularity of old black-and-white films in a modern auditorium—buy your tickets in advance, as these cliassic regularly sell out. The theater screens rarities from the impressive archive of reels dating back decades. Conscientiously curated film programs are often accompanied by exhibitions in a separate gallery downstairs, as well as lively panel discussions featuring film critics and directors.

This complex overlooks the Jialing River and has a brightly lit waterfall and paved streets built right into the mountainside. The main attraction is the Ba Yu Theater, a rather cheesy performance of Chongqing customs and folklore. The historical aspects of Ba Yu culture have been dumbed down, but the costumes, choreography, and the bit on the Devil Town of Fengdu make it an evening well spent. There are plenty of foot massage places and a sprinkling of Western restaurants, one of the best being Cactus Tex Mex.

This entertaining song-and-dance performance is preceded by a ho-hum buffet that unsuccessfully tries to capture the delights of Uyghur cuisine. Never mind the food, as this is your best chance to see Uyghur, Uzbek, Kazakh, Tajik, Tartar, and even Irish dancing all in one eye-popping evening. Make reservations through your hotel or at the banquet hall.

The unabashedly touristy shows here are still a great time. You can first watch performers put on makeup before the show (come early) and then graze on snacks and sip tea while watching English-subtitled shows. Glossy brochures complement the crooning.

Architecturally, the giant silver dome of this performing arts complex is stunning, and its interior holds a state-of-the-art opera house, a music hall, and a theater. "The Egg," as it's been called, offers a world-class stage for national and international performers. If you don't wish to see a show, you can tour the inside of the building by paying for an entrance ticket.

The city's premier theater venue and troupe, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center presents an award-winning lineup of its own original pieces, plus those of other cutting-edge groups around China. It also stages Chinese-language adaptations, sometimes very inventive, of Western works, such as a festival of Samuel Beckett works reinterpreted through Chinese opera.

If it's Vegas-style stage antics you're after, the Legend of Kung Fu show is what you want. Extravagant martial arts—performed by dancers, not martial artists—are complemented by neon, fog, and heavy-handed sound effects. Shows are garish but also sometimes glorious.

As one of the city's last traditionally crafted vessels, or junks, the plush Aqua Luna's dramatic appearance and red sails make her easy to spot. Step off dry land from the piers in Kowloon or Central, order a gin and tonic, and take in the shimmering harbor sights for 45 minutes. The HK$195 price tag includes one drink, and a snack menu is available. The ferry runs every hour from 5:30 pm daily. The more expensive 7:30 cruise lets you watch the city's nightly Symphony of Lights show from the harbor.

One of Beijing's main venues for Chinese and Western classical-music concerts also hosts folk dancing and singing, and many celebratory events throughout the year. The 1,000-seat venue is also the home of the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Chinese plays, Western (and Chinese) operas, and ballet performances are staged in this Soviet-style building that's part of the exhibition center complex. Talk about a wide range of shows: the Michael Jackson musical Thriller was once staged here, swiftly followed by some traditional folk art performances.

The train-station design of this art house has won awards. Inside the foyer, a departure board displays the showings: primarily foreign and independent films, with a few Hollywood productions to round out the roster. You can read the latest reel-world magazines from around the globe at Kubrick, the café-bookshop next door.

This is a busy, modern theater near Wangfujing shopping street. It often has performances by the respected Beijing People's Art Theatre and various international acts, such as the British troupe TNT.

Named after the noted British architect Sir William Chambers, Chambers Fine Art Beijing opened in 2007 in the art village of Caochangdi. Situated in a red-brick gallery complex designed by the internationally famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Chambers puts on exhibitions of young native Chinese artists worth paying attention to.

In this theater specializing in Chinese opera, spectators can choose to sit either in the traditional seats or at cabaret-style tables. Besides Peking-style opera, the theater also puts on performances of other regional styles, such as yueju (from Guangdong) and chuanju (from Sichuan).

This space is the queen bee of acrobatics venues, especially designed to unleash oohs and ahhs. Spectacular individual and team acrobatic displays involving bicycles, seesaws, catapults, swings, and barrels are performed here nightly. It's touristy but fun.

The shadow and hand-puppet shows at this theater convey traditional stories—it's lively entertainment for children and adults alike. This venue also attracts foreign performers, including the Moscow Puppet Theater.

Chinese dance legend Yang Liping has retired, but the Yunnan native's award-winning dance and musical production, Dynamic Yunnan, still plays to full-capacity crowds, nightly at 8:30. It's an impressive fusion of the storytelling, songs, and dances of local indigenous groups.

Operating since 1965, the Friendship Theater has hosted many art organizations from nearly 100 countries. The performance fare includes drama, theater, opera, symphony, and concerts. Almost all of the performances are in Chinese.

The pioneer of Hong Kong's alternative-arts scene has been staging excellent independent theater, music, and art productions since opening in 1983. The distinctive brown-and-white-stripe colonial structure was built as a cold-storage warehouse in 1892, and the painstaking renovation has earned awards. Light pours through huge windows into the street-level Anita Chan Lai-ling Gallery, with its small, well-curated exhibitions. It has its own bar, the Fringe Dairy, which claims to be the only jazz and cabaret space in Hong Kong. Productions are sometimes in Cantonese, so check the program carefully.

This cinema in the upscale Elements Mall in West Kowloon boasts massive screens, a kicking sound system, and vibrating seats, making it the ideal place to watch a big-budget blockbuster. Facilities include a café, restaurant, and a gallery space hosting film-related exhibitions.

Mainland China's first professional modern-dance company, Guangdong Modern Dance Company is regularly praised for its cutting-edge style.

Live puppet shows are presented every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 am inside Guangzhou Puppet Art Center's two theaters.

Many of Hong Kong's most talented performers studied at this academy's schools of drama, music, dance, television, and film. It has five theaters and a gallery, so there's always something going on. Productions are staged in the Lyric Theatre, the smaller Drama Theatre, and the tiny Studio Theatre. The two concert halls host choice classical or traditional Chinese music performances. When the weather's pleasant, take in a show at the garden amphitheater.

A hodgepodge of activities takes place in this deceptively bleak concrete tower, financed with horse-racing profits donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The split-level Pao galleries house year-round exhibitions of art and crafts. Thematic cycles of art-house flicks run in the basement agnès b. CINEMA. Community theater groups are behind much of the fare at the Shouson Theatre and smaller McAulay Studio, though international drama and dance troupes sometimes appear. The new Comix Home Base showcases local comedians. From Wan Chai MTR, cross the footbridge to Immigration Tower, then dogleg left through the open plaza until you hit Harbour Road. The center is on the left.

Held each year in February and March, the Hong Kong Arts Festival's past visitors have included Mikhail Baryshnikov, Pina Bausch, and José Carreras. The focus is on performing arts.

The performances at City Hall, ranging from the New York Philharmonic to the Bee Gees, and the Royal Danish Ballet to the People's Liberation Army Comrade Dance Troupe, are varied but consistently excellent. Two buildings make up the chunky '60s-era complex, divided by a World War II memorial garden and shrine. The 1,500-seat concert hall and a smaller theater are in the low-rise block, as is the massive Maxim's City Palace, a clattering restaurant with good dim sum. The high-rise building has an exhibition space and a smaller recital hall. Performances are usually held Friday and Saturday evenings.

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre's 2,000-seat concert hall, an oval-shaped space fitted with an adjustable acoustic canopy and curtains, houses an 8,000-pipe Austrian organ, one of the world's largest. The Grand Theatre often hosts visiting Broadway musicals, opera, and ballet, while cozier plays take place in the Studio Theatre. Exhibitions are occasionally mounted in the atrium.