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Explore the region
About Oriental Art Center
Designed by Paul Andreu with the local architectural institute, it gives Pudong a distinctive performing-arts complex.
The “petals” contain separate concert, opera, performance, exhibition and entrance functions. Laminated glass and metal screens shape the exterior, while different interior treatments distinguish the halls. Choose an actual performance or exhibition if you want interior access; an architectural visit can begin with the public exterior and entrance areas.
The center was built with more than 1.1 billion yuan invested by the Shanghai municipal government and the Pudong district government, with a total construction area of nearly 40,000 square meters. It opened with a New Year's Eve concert in 2004 and was officially opened on 1 July 2005.
Dark granite floors and multi-layered glass screen walls create a softly diffused forest-floor effect inside, and each petal is hung with large, distinctly colored pebbles to set it apart from the others. Backstage facilities include an Orchestra Rehearsal Hall, a Choir Rehearsal Hall, a Dance Rehearsal Hall and an Integrated Rehearsal Hall. The Concert Hall seats 1,953 people and houses an 88-diapason, five-layer organ built by Austria's Rieger Pipe Organ company, while the Opera Hall seats 1,015 across three areas designed to recreate the intimate experience of Italian opera houses, with an orchestra pit large enough for up to 100 musicians.
The center hosts regular concert and opera performances, beginning with a Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra concert in 2005. Its Chinese Traditional Opera Series is a regular series featuring the China National Opera, the Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company, the Shanghai Kunqu Company and the Shanghai Yueju Opera Troupe.
What to look for
- Five connected petal-like volumes create the orchid-inspired plan.
- Glass façades and separately treated halls distinguish the building’s performance functions.
The surrounding area
A large district containing major museums and the tower skyline. A hotel near one attraction may still be far from another.
Location & getting there
Getting to Oriental Art Center
Approach the Oriental Art Center off Century Avenue in Pudong and use the entrance specified for your booked hall.
Combine your visit
A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.
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Exterior and entrance hall
Read the connected petal-like forms before entering a specific venue.
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Booked concert, opera or performance hall
Experience the architecture through the event for which the hall is designed.
This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.
Find Oriental Art Center
东方艺术中心 · 浦东新区
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Shanghai Museum East 上海博物馆东馆
Less than 1 km awayShanghai Museum East is the Pudong branch of Shanghai Museum, with a large modern gallery complex on Century Avenue. It is the current home for the museum’s permanent Chinese collections according to the museum’s visitor…
View guide →Shanghai Science and Technology Museum 上海科技馆
Less than 1 km awayShanghai Science and Technology Museum anchors the Huamu civic area at Century Square. Its building rises in a spiral, with a prominent glass sphere at the centre.
View guide →Century Park 世纪公园
1 km awayCentury Park lies at the Pudong end of Century Avenue near the Science and Technology Museum. Its designed landscape is divided into contrasting areas rather than one uniform lawn.
View guide →Sources & visit information
The sources below support the place-specific description and arrival information. Suggested combinations are editorial planning ideas; confirm current opening, entry arrangements and transport services for your date.
- en.wikivoyage.org ↗
- Oriental Art Center ↗
- Shanghai/Pudong ↗
- Chinese Wikipedia: 东方艺术中心 (revision 94060797, 2026-08-27) ↗
- English Wikipedia: Oriental Art Center (revision 1344883021, 2026-03-23) ↗
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Oriental Art Center” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1344883021.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikivoyage contributors, listing “Oriental Art Center” · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "东方艺术中心", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 94060797.
Background paragraphs condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "Oriental Art Center", English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1344883021.