SHANGHAI, CHINA.- The new Shanghai Oriental Art Center in Shanghai designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who also designed the National Grand Theatre in Beijing, will open on New Year's Eve.

Li Zhongyong, vice director of the center's construction project said: "We built the center so that people can be in touch with music."

The center features 2,000 symphony halls, 1,100 medium-sized concert halls, and 300 small concert stages. The center is located Century Avenue and is surrounded by trees and lush grass. The technology involved for creating concert halls ideal for sound proved to be the most complicated and a laborious task.

"We have too little experience in building such a huge modern concert center, but things will be better and better as we join more challenging projects in future," said one of the project engineers.

Li said, "The stages are simply fantastic. I believe some of the stages can hold a two-hour ice ballet without any problems."