For Beijingers, however, the £190m complex is an “alien egg” or, less kindly, a “giant turd” deposited opposite the Forbidden City, their most cherished landmark.

These contrasting views of the theatre reflect a bitter debate raging over the future shape of Beijing as China lavishes an estimated £40 billion on the capital in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics — much of it on buildings designed by foreign architects.

The growing western influence has raised concerns among Chinese architects that their city is being turned into a testing ground for foreign counterparts to experiment with often outlandish and expensive designs.

Andreu’s 6,200-seat futuristic theatre, located opposite the Great Hall of the People and parliament, has become the focal point of protests.

“It wasn’t wise to build such a large-scale theatre in the centre of Beijing,” said Professor Zhou Rong of Tsinghua University’s architecture and design school. “It looks like something that’s not from the earth.” He especially objects to the entrance which lies at the end of an underwater passage. “It’s like a tomb,” he said. “It goes against the conventions of Chinese architecture.”

The partial collapse of an Andreu-designed terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris last May, which resulted in the death of two Chinese tourists, has also not endeared locals to the theatre, due to open next year.

Even so, foreign architects have continued to land projects in China. Rem Koolhaas, the Dutch enfant terrible of architecture, is behind the equally controversial £420m CCTV Tower, while the Swiss duo Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron won the plum job of creating the Olympic Stadium.

Not all foreign-designed projects have met with disapproval. Sir Norman Foster’s £1.1 billion terminal at Beijing airport has been welcomed as being in tune with traditional sensibilities.

“The rich reds and yellow that will be used are inspired by Chinese architecture,” said Mouzhan Majidi, a senior partner at Foster and Partners in charge of the terminal, which will open in 2007.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Zhou believes that the campaign against foreign architects is misguided and blames the officials who approved designs and budgets.

“Policy makers like showy buildings. They’re monuments to themselves,” said Zhou. “The right vision depends on the reality of the city and not an ideology.”

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