The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) (simplified Chinese: 国家大剧院; traditional Chinese: 國家大劇院; pinyin: Guójiā dà jùyuàn; lit. 'National Grand Theatre'), and colloquially described as The Giant Egg (巨蛋), is an arts centre containing an opera house in the Xicheng District of Beijing, People's Republic of China. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the NCPA opened in 2007 and is the largest theatre complex in Asia. The NCPA is semi-spherical in appearance, with a long axis length of 212.20 meters in the east-west direction, a short axis length of 143.64 meters in the north-south direction, a height of 46.285 meters, an area of 119,900 square meters, and a total construction area of approximately 165,000 square meters, including 105,000 square meters of main buildings and 60,000 square meters of underground, auxiliary facilities, with a total cost of 3.067 billion yuan. The centre contains an opera hall, music hall, theater and art exhibition halls, restaurants, audio shops, and other supporting facilities.