The iconic construction project of “National Taichung Theater” underwent ten years of planning, construction, checking, testing and preparation. On August 25th, the Taichung City Government donated it to the Ministry of Culture and it has become part of the operations of the National Performing Arts Center. On September 30, the National Taichung Theater was inaugurated and it became the newest national palace for performing art since the establishment of the National Theater and Concert Hall 30 years ago. Vice President Jian-ren Chen hopes that the establishment of National Taichung Theater could strengthen the foundation of the Taiwanese art and can be an incubator of Taiwan’s performing arts. Mayor Jia-long Lin of Taichung City also indicated that Taichung City Government would cooperate with the National Performing Arts Center on cultivating local performance groups and carrying out cultural equality.The inauguration began with a toast from Vice President Chien-jen Chen, Taichung City Mayor Chia-lung Lin, Vice President of the Legislative Yuan Chi-chang Tsai, Minister of Culture Li-chiun Cheng, President of the National Performing Arts Center Kuo-tsi Chen, Artistic Director Victoria Wang, the architect of the National Taichung Theater, Toyo Ito and President Chun-shan Wu of Best Civing Construction, announcing that National Taichung Theater officially began open to public. Many other guests, including Taichung City Deputy Mayor Kuang-yao Chang, Yi-ying Lin, Legislators Kuo-shu Huang and Wan-chien Chang-Liao, City Councilors Chiung-hua Wu, Su-chen Chiu, Kung-chin Cheng and Min-cheng He and Artistic Director Hwai-min Lin, from the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Artistic Director Zong-long Zheng from Cloud Gate 2, Artistic Director Hui-mei Li from the National Theater and Concert Hall, Musical Director Shao-chia Lu of the National Symphony Orchestra, etc, were present to witness the historic moment.The toast was followed by “Qaciljay”, the newest creation in 2016 of the first in-house performer, the “Bulareyaung Theater” led by Bulareyaung Pagarlava. According to Bulareyaung, “Qaciljay” meant “rocks” in the native language of the Paiwan tribe. The dancers covered themselves with mud, symbolizing the relationship between their culture and the land. As the word also signifies “birth”, the performers celebrated that the history of Taiwanese performing arts turned over a new leaf with the inauguration of the opera house. Vice President Chen indicated that National Taichung Theater is an artistic dream coming true thanks to the cooperation between the central government and the local government. With the planning and support that came from both Former Mayor Chih-chiang Hu and Mayor Chia-lung Lin, the opera house was inaugurated today and it became the pivot that connects the artistic resources from the North, the South and the Center of Taiwan. Vice President Chen hoped that the establishment of the opera house could strengthen the foundation of the Taiwanese art and can be an incubator of Taiwan’s performing arts.Mayor Lin thanked Former Mayor Chih-chiang Hu for starting the project of the opera house. Without Hu’s vision, there would not be an inauguration to celebrate. Mayor Lin expressed his gratitude to the Pritzker Architecture Award winner, Toyo Ito, for realizing his dream in Taichung. Mayor Lin praised President Chun-shan Wu of Best Civing Construction for completing the opera house project with perseverance, a typical virtue of the local people, and a strong will to contribute to his hometown. Last but not least, Mayor Lin gave credits to the staff in the City Hall, especially to the Construction and the Culture Bureau that donated the opera house to the Ministry of Culture as the winners of the National Golden Award for Public Construction.Minister Li-chiun Cheng said that there is finally a new performance venue ever since the establishment of the National Theater and Concert Hall 30 years ago in 1987. She hoped that National Taichung Theater, National Theater and Concert Hall and Wei Wu Ying Centers for the Arts could be three distinctive but integrated performance venues that bring forth more development of Taiwanese performance art. She also hoped that the opera house could form partnerships with other venues and bring forth overall artistic and cultural development in Taiwan with the cultural experience education project proposed by the Ministry of Culture.The first show after the inauguration was “the Rhinegold”, the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's “The Ring of the Nibelung”. The National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Shao-jia Lu, performed it. Although the tickets for “the Rhinegold” were sold out quickly, the show was simultaneously on the TV wall outside the opera house enabled more audience to witness the grand event of the country.