A night expedition

We have asked our ayi (nanny) Lili to babysit, in a (failed) attempt to attend some "culture" , a dance show by Jennifer Muller at the CNCPA, aka the Egg. We are not sure of who she is, but the idea of going to the Egg is exciting. We hope for cheap tickets. (Our destination was a very last minute decision). 

The Egg is the new China National Center for the Performing Arts. It has been designed by Paul Andreu, a French Architect. The concept of the building is simple: an egg floating on water. Andreu took pleasure in juxtaposing the sleek and sexy lines of his building against the austere architecture of the public buildings surrounding Tienanmen Square. Some critics even go as far as saying that he mocked I.M. Pei (who did the Pyramid at the Louvre).

The taxi dropped us in front of the building. We suspiciously approached the entrance, not seeing many people there. A guard told us to go around the building. We walked and walked around the immense water pond (lake?) surrounding the building.

After a while (and in the cold that while might be a bit shorter), we wondered if we misunderstood what the guard said. There was no entrance in sight! Only a round facade, and water surrounding it... Then I remembered someones comment in a architecture lecture. Walking under water... We ask a guard (in our approximate Chinese) and he indicates the direction of the street, away from the building. There it is, like a warm red mouth, ready to welcome all the center's visitors!

As we walk down the stairs, a few men come to us, saying "piao". They are scalpers. We walk in, and go to the counter, to be told the show is sold out. Ah, disappointment! We walk back out and look for those piao guys. They want 180$ for a pair of good tickets! We wander a bit more, hoping for a price reduction as the show starts. All a sudden we see about 10 of them fleeing, and witness the arrest of a couple of them by two policemen. A few approach us again, but by that time, we are wondering if we might even get arrested for buying scalped tickets. So we slowly drift towards Tienanmen. 

Floating on water, the Egg appears as an enigma. Despite our attempt, it will remain as such tonight!