The Chongqing Grand Theatre opened in 2009 at the tip of Jiangbeizui, the point of land where the Jialing meets the Yangtze, directly across the water from the Yuzhong peninsula. It was designed by an international architecture practice and takes the form of a large glass and steel volume with a sloped, faceted skin, so that the building reads as a single crystalline mass rather than as a conventional theatre block. Its position is the reason it works: from the river, and from the promenades on the opposite bank, it sits at the point where the two rivers and the whole skyline converge.
The building and its programme
Inside there is a large opera house, a concert hall and a theatre, and the programme runs through opera, orchestral music, dance, drama and touring productions, with a strong emphasis on Chinese work alongside the international repertoire. The foyer and the public areas look out over the river, and the building is lit at night so that the glass structure glows and reflects in the water. Even without a ticket it is worth walking to the tip of the peninsula to see it, and the plaza in front of it has become one of the city's main gathering points in the evening, with the towers of Yuzhong across the river and the bridges lit on either side.
The surrounding district
Jiangbeizui is Chongqing's new central business district, and the district around the theatre has been built from scratch in the last twenty years: towers, malls, a science museum, an underground retail network and a riverfront park. The contrast with the old city across the water is stark, and walking between them, in plan and in elevation, is one of the more interesting ways to read how Chongqing has changed. The riverside park below the theatre connects south along the Jialing and north along the Yangtze, and it is used for walking and cycling at all hours.
Practical notes
The plaza and the waterfront are free and open at all hours; performances require tickets, which are sold online and at the box office and are inexpensive by international standards. The theatre is served by subway and is a short walk from the station. It is best visited in the late afternoon, when you can see the building in daylight and then stay for the lights and the view across to the peninsula. Because the area is exposed and the river wind is strong, take a layer for the evening even in summer.
