Best bets

Yang Liping Ballet - Peacock of Winter

Date: April 13-15 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Hangzhou Theater

Price: 280-1,680 yuan

The dance drama Peacock is created and directed by Chinese famous choreographer and dancer Yang Liping. Since the debut of the drama in 2012, Peacock has been staged for hundreds of times at home and abroad. The peacock in the drama is not only a bird, but also a person and a member of sentient beings. The Peacock is in four parts titled Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively to symbolize life's journey reflecting a story about growth, human nature and love. The characters in the drama embody the different levels of human nature, brightness & awareness, love & devotion, obsession & being lost, and fear & vanity. The story is about peacock as well as human nature, and it also a parable about life.

Jazz Weekend - French Jazz Thomas Enhco Piano Recital

Date: May 6 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Concert Hall

Price: 80-599 yuan

Thomas Enhco, born in Paris, starts playing the violin and piano at an early age, and studies classical music and jazz in both instruments. At 12, Thomas enters the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, where he is spotted by the drummer Peter Erskine who offers to participate in Thomas Enhco's first CD. He is then accepted at the Paris Conservatoire National Sup??rieur de Musique et Danse. In 2004-2005, Thomas composes and records his first album, Esquisse, which is released in 2006 (label Ames, distrib. Harmonia Mundi). He reaches the finals in the Defense National Jazz Competition in 2005 and receives the Young Talent Price at the Montauban Jazz Festival in 2006.

Chen Xinyi's Historical Drama Shang Yang

Date: March 18 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 100-500 yuan

Large-scale historical drama Shang Yang is authored by the national-class level-A playwright Yao Yuan and directed by the stage director Chen Xinyi. This drama is adapted on the basis of historical figure Shang Yang. It not only tells the story of an ancient struggle for reform, but also conveys the masculine courage and uprightness at the cost of life in the pursuit of grand ideal and indomitable fighting spirit of breaking through the encirclement of obsolete culture.

2017 World Snooker China Open

Date: March 27-April 2 - 10 am

Venue: Beijing University Students' Gymnasium

Price: 110-385 yuan

The 2017 World Snooker China Open will be held at the Beijing University Students' Gymnasium from March 27 to April 2. The China Open is the longest running event of the current world ranking competitions staged in China, dating back to 2005. That year it was won by Ding Junhui, 18, who beat Stephen Hendry in the final. The tournament being staged in Beijing brings 64 players from around the world to the Chinese capital. The 2016 event was won by Judd Trump, who beat Ricky Walden in the final.

Swan Lake By Russian State Ballet In Beijing

Date: May 5 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Century Theater

Price: 180-880 yuan

Tchaikovsky's instantly recognizable music set against the wonderfully dark story of good against evil; Swan Lake is one of the most famous and loved of all ballets. This production by Evgeny Amosov, Artistic Director of The Russian National Ballet Theatre, is heralded around the world. Swan Lake's glamorous set is evocative of the Russian Imperial world in which the ballet was created, while the haunting moonlit lakeside is perfect for the tragic conflict of the human and spirit worlds and allows the audience to be swept away in the vulnerability of Odette/Odile.

NCPA Drama Jane Eyre (Chinese Version)

Date: April 13-19 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 200-880 yuan

In June 2009, Jane Eyre pioneered by NCPA was staged for the first time, and this was also the first interpretation of Charlotte Bronte's classical novel of the same name on the stage of drama in China. Wang Xiaoying and Yu Rongjun served as the stage director and the playwright respectively. Ever since its debut in 2009, this drama version of Jane Eyre has been performed many times at NCPA and other theaters and has toured in such cities as Shanghai, Chongqing, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Fuzhou province. Three actresses - Yuan Quan, Chen Shu and Zhu Jie - have dedicated themselves to the performance, presenting this elegant and independent English lady for the audience.