A giant egg is emerging from its nest in Beijing. After almost seven years, the Chinese capital’s newest architectural adventure, a huge theatre in the shadow of Tiananmen Gate, is about to be revealed.

Dubbed the Egg because of its smooth, translucent exterior and ovoid shape, the National Theatre for the Performing Arts is three years behind schedule, after more than 40 years in the planning. Of uncompromising modernity, it has aroused strong feelings, standing as it does alongside the Stalinist-style bulk of the Great Hall of the People and a stone’s throw from the golden eaves of the Forbidden City.

Wang Zhengming, director of the 2.7 billion-yuan (£180 million) theatre, designed by the French architect Paul Andreu, seems to relish the debate about a building that will be China’s premier showcase for international and domestic artists. He quotes a Chinese proverb: “Two parallel streams can never meet.” And laughs: “This shows that this building is full of character.” He is equally unconcerned by criticism that the project is late.

He told The Times: “Mr Andreu told us that anywhere in the world a building as complicated as this would take ten years to build, but we said that in China we could do it in four. He said even in China it would take seven years – and he was right.”

A further delay came when costs and safety were reviewed after the new terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris – also designed by Mr Andreu – collapsed in 2004. Next came the challenge of keeping the titanium and glass shell shining in a city that is heavily polluted and hit by dust storms from the Gobi desert. Mr Wang said: “We can wash off the dust but the bird droppings are really troublesome.” Cleaners will tackle the titanium roof and a nanotechnology film that covers the glass will dissolve droppings and dust.

This week, more than 16,000 cubic metres of water – enough to fill 42 Olympic swimming pools – was poured into the lake on which the dome will “float”, before a preliminary opening on October 1 – National Day. Visitors will enter under the circle of water, through a glass-roofed passage.

Mr Wang says the first performance will be before the end of the year and certainly before the Olympics in August 2008.

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