The $ 15 million production will be staged in a quiet corner of the Forbidden City, in a 500-year-old courtyard of a temple where the emperors used to offer sacrifices to their ancestors.

The opera depicts a Chinese emperor's daughter who says any suitor who solves three riddles may marry her, but those who fail will be executed. Yesterday, the opera's producers described the difficulties in placing Giacomo Puccini's last opera in the setting he imagined.

An acoustics engineer from the Vienna State Opera and the latest equipment will be brought to enhance the sound quality and give the audience a theatre-like experience.

The outdoor setting is in front of the imperial ancestral temple, located east of the main tourist track through the palace. The temple is part ofthe imperial compound - now a park, with centuries-old cypress trees, called the working people's palace of culture.

A hefty premium was paid to the London-based company Lloyds to insure the buildings, and the Chinese government was paid a substantial but undisclosed rental for the ancient site.

``All this makes the production the most expensive opera ever staged,'' producer Michael Ecker said at a press conference.

Tickets for each of the eight 4,200-seat shows range from $ 150 to $ 1,200 with higher rates for corporate sponsorships. Performers agreed to waive their fees for two shows so that Chinese opera lovers who could not afford those prices could buy tickets at $ 24 to $ 120.

Casting plans include Sharon Sweet as Turandot, Barbara Hendricks as the slave Liu and tenors Lando Bartolini, Kristjan Johansson and Sergei Larin as Calaf. Mehta is bringing the chorus and orchestra from the Florence Opera House, where he is chief conductor.

About two-thirds of the cast of 1,000 dancers, members of achildren's chorus will be Chinese.

Zhang, known for Oscar-nominated films such as Raise the Red Lantern, said that Turandot will bring together people from different countries in a real exchange and mutual understanding a spiritual and emotional exchange.

Mehta and Zhang worked together on Turandot once before, last year in Florence.

``We're both flexible to each other's wishes and in the end it was a co-operation of great friendship,'' Mehta said, speaking via televised conference call from Munich.