Best bets

Tango of Summer: Li Biao & His Friends

Date: Aug 24 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 50-380 yuan

Li Biao, one of the few outstanding solo percussionists in the recent international music stage, win the world acclaim as an exceptional solo percussionist in the contemporary era by virtue of his extraordinary musicality of the percussion instruments as well as his unique demeanor. Zhao Jing is the winner of the 1st prize at the renowned ARD International Music Competition (54th) in 2005. In addition, she was awarded the prize for best interpretation of a new work and the audience prize at this renowned competition. She was awarded the Music Awards by ExxonMobil in Japan in 2009.

Cloud Gate Dance Theater moon Water

Date: Aug 25-28 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 100-680 yuan

Topped the list of the best dances in 2003, selected by the chief critic Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times, moon Water has been presented by festivals and venues all over the world, receiving rave acclaims since its premiere in 1998. To the Chinese, moon Water, or Shui Yuei in Chinese, is a metaphor of two things. One is a Buddhist proverb: "Flowers in a mirror and moon on the water are both illusory." The other describes the ideal state of Tai Chi practitioners: "Energy flows as water, while the spirit shines as the moon." Moon Water owes its movement motives to Tai Chi Tao Yin, a Chi Kung exercise that can be traced back to more than 2,000 years ago.

St. Florian Boys' Choir An Art Journey in Summer

Date: Aug 19 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 50-320 yuan

The success of the St. Florian Boys' Choir lies in the strong foundation of its nigh 1,000-year history. Numerous superb musicians have emerged from its ranks since the founding of the choir, the most eminent one being Anton Bruckner. Today the St. Florian Boys' Choir is an internationally active choir with a diverse repertoire and a clear goal - to convey the joy of making music to their audience. On frequent concert tours they serve as cultural ambassadors of Europe, bringing the great legacy of Austrian music as well as a contemporary repertoire full of new ideas to all continents of the globe.

The Vakhtangov Theater Masquerade NCPA International Theater Festival 2016

Date: Aug 25-27 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 180-680 yuan

The poetic drama by Mikhail Lermontov uncovers the ruthless truth about people and the world they live in, the severe world where the morality teeters on the razor's edge. At the masquerade - a feast with enchanting music, bright costumes, mysterious masks and alluring power of revelry - people make fun, slander and gammon, without being recognized, as they are free from everything including their own selves.