The Harbin Grand Theatre (Harbin Opera)

The Harbin Grand Theatre or Harbin Opera is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Harbin, . Measuring 850,349 square foot, the theatre is designed by well known Chinese architect “ Ma Yansong” and an award-winning-architecture of a number of international architecture awards, including ArchDaily 2016 Building of the Year Award, WAN Performing Spaces Award 2016 and 2017 IALD Award

The theatre is situated in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, a UNESCO listed "City of Music", hosting city of the renowned annual Harbin Summer Music Concert and a metropolis where China's first ever orchestra was established. The building serves as the centerpiece of Harbin's Cultural Island an arts hub, by the Songhua River and surrounding wetlands in suburban Harbin.

Clad entirely in white aluminium panels, the opera house swoops and curls against the bleak landscape, at times resembling a thundering snow-drift and, at others, a hyper-stylized tented yurt. The primal references are deliberate, a not entirely subtle nod to the region's harsh climate and wild topography., making it nicely embedded into the surrounding nature. While the bold and beautiful structure inside the opera house achieves Zen aesthetics with contemporary white walls, atmospheric skylights and tons of timber

The Harbin Grand Theatre includes a number of performance venues

• Grand theatre: Consists of 1538 seats, it is the main part of the theatre.

• Smaller theatre: The second largest part consists of 414 seats. This back wall of it is sound-proof glass, making natural scene a background in performance.

• Dressing rooms and Rehearsal Halls

• Public space: Both ticket holders and the general public alike can explore the building. There are carved paths on the façade of the building. Visitors are able to climb up to the top of the building for sightseeing. Grand lobby space, are resting places for visitors and sightseers.

• Parking space: 470 parking places are offered on the ground floor outside the building.

The architect, Mr. Ma Yansong wanted its snow white structure to have a soothing aesthetic, in contrast to modern landmark buildings in Chinese cities which are often towering and imposing. The architect emphasized the building's integration to nature as an extension of surrounding wetlands, waterways, and snowy terrain.

The architect "envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural center of the future, a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity".

Incomparable taste of Peking opera

Peking opera, or Beijing opera is the most dominant form of Chinese opera which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1636–1912) and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The art form is also preserved in Taiwan, where it is also known as Guójù. It has also spread to other regions such as the United States and Japan.

Peking opera features four main role types, sheng (gentlemen), dan (women), jing (rough men), and chou (clowns). Performing troupes often have several of each variety, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate and colorful costumes, performers are the only focal points on Peking opera's characteristically sparse stage. They use the skills of speech, song, dance and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive, rather than realistic. Above all else, the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements. Performers also adhere to a variety of stylistic conventions that help audiences navigate the plot of the production. The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music. The music of Peking opera can be divided into the xīpí and èrhuáng styles. Melodies include arias, fixed-tune melodies and percussion patterns. The repertoire of Peking opera includes over 1,400 works, which are based on Chinese history, folklore and, increasingly, contemporary life.

Traditional Peking opera was denounced as "feudalistic" and "bourgeois" during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and replaced with the revolutionary operas as a means of propaganda and indoctrination. After the Cultural Revolution, these transformations were largely undone. In recent years, Peking opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience numbers. These reforms, which include improving performance quality, adapting new performance elements and performing new and original plays, have met with mixed success.