The national theater affectionately known as 'The Egg' celebrates its fifth birthday. Chen Jie reports the institution is still growing.

Yang Shuang will never forget the late night jazz concert by Frankfurt Radio Bigband at the National Center for the Performing Arts on May 26. When she walked out of the concert hall, with her boyfriend Zhang Ran, he suddenly knelt down, roses in hand, and proposed marriage to her. Every year, NCPA presents a jazz concert at 10:30 pm as a special ending for the May Festival, and after the concert there is a cocktail party for musicians and guests. Zhang thought it a perfect opportunity. "I wanted to give her a special proposal. Late night jazz is romantic," says the 27-year-old acoustics engineer, part of NCPA's stage crew. "NCPA has a slogan, 'Art changes life'. When I thought about proposing marriage, I wanted to change my life here."

"Art changes life" is an article of faith for Chen Ping, NCPA's president, because art has changed his career.