Best bets

Tap Dogs in Beijing

Date: Oct 10 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Center

Price: 80-1,000 yuan

Combining high-energy dance, theatrical performance and live music, Tap Dogs is a show not to be missed. Spectacularly, in an 80-minute adrenaline rush performance, Tap Dogs combine their skills to create an incredible live theatrical performance. In water, on ladders, upside-down or jumping through scaffolding, the Tap Dogs move to the groove of their own beat as the team work together to bring the steel-works construction site alive.

Pulitzer-Winning Glengarry Glen Ross in Shanghai

Date: Oct 10-18 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Jasmine Theater

Price: 80-780 yuan

Mamet at his very best, writing about the salesmen in a cutthroat real estate office competing for leads on potential buyers. The rule of the "sales contest" is that the top man will get a luxury car and the bottom two will be fired. Lie. Cheat. Steal. All in one day's work. The scalding comedy took Broadway and London by storm and won the 1983 Laurence Olivier Best Drama and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize. Revived on Broadway in 2006 and 2012, this masterpiece of American drama also became a celebrated film starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin and Alan Arkin.

War Horse in Beijing

Date: Oct 10-31 - 7:15 pm

Venue: The National Theater

Price: 100-1,680 yuan

War Horse is a play based on the book of the same name by children's writer Michael Morpurgo, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Originally Morpurgo thought "they must be mad" to try to make a play from his best-selling 1982 novel; nonetheless, the play was a success. The play's West End and Broadway productions are directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris; it features life-size horse puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, with "horse choreography" by Toby Sedgwick.

Funny sketches

Date: Daily through Oct 13 - 10 am-5 pm

Venue: Elion Art Gallery, 23 Dongdajie, Beijing

Exhibition Artists: Fang Lijun, Xu Bing, Zhang Xiaogang

What are sketches of well-known artists look like? A show presenting interesting sketches of established Chinese artists whose works often fetch millions of dollars at auction houses offers a glimpse into the funny aspect of these masters. On display are sketches, small-sized pictures and even graffiti of 34 iconic artists in China like Fang Lijun, Xu Bing and He Duocen. The show is inspired by a sudden upload of artist Fang Lijun's two ink sketches he did for fun on his Wechat. It then gets other artists' quick response to share their funny sketches on the social network. All the works are created on a whim by these artists, an authentic reflection of their inner mind without any restrains, says curator Wu Hong.

The Phantom of the Opera in Guangzhou

Date: Oct 10-18 - 8 pm

Venue: Guangzhou Opera House

Price: 280-1,680 yuan

Based on the 1910 horror novel by Gaston Leroux, which has been adapted into countless films, The Phantom of the Opera follows a deformed composer who haunts the grand Paris Opera House. Sheltered from the outside world in an underground cavern, the lonely, romantic man tutors and composes operas for Christine, a gorgeous young soprano star-to-be. As Christine's star rises, and a handsome suitor from her past enters the picture, the Phantom grows mad, terrorizing the opera house owners and company with his murderous ways. Still, Christine finds herself drawn to the mystery man. Audiences agree - The Phantom of the Opera is Broadway's longest-running hit. Ever.

Trio Globo Jazz 2015 Beijing Concert

Date: Oct 13 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Art Center of National Library of China

Price: 100-380 yuan

Trio Globo has crafted a totally original voice in contemporary acoustic jazz. With roots in jazz, classical and sacred music, rhythmic influences derived from travels in six continents, and a combustible spontaneity, cellist Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter Consort), pianist and master harmonica player Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Kenny Loggins, Paquito d'Rivera), and percussionist Glen Velez (Paul Winter Consort, Steve Reich) epitomize the quintessential group for the 21st century. They are true originals re-inventing their instruments in new music both personal and global.