On Dec 22, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) launched its biggest annual festival, Open Day, an event established in 2008 to celebrate the anniversary of the NCPA's founding the year before.

The NCPA held more than 70 cultural activities during the 2014 Open Day, such as performances, artists' salons and  art exhibitions.

Tickets for the events were free but had to be reserved in advance online or at the NCPA itself. According to Wang Zhengming, vice president of NCPA, they distributed over 5,000 tickets for the event in the morning.

Having produced a total of 47 original works, including Western operas, stage dramas and Peking operas, over the past seven years the NCPA has staged more than 6,000 commercial performances and over 6,000 free art education activities.

Performers at the NCPA on Open Day, Dec 22.[Photo by Jiang Dong/asianewsphoto.com]