Beijing's 798 Art District
Beijing is a city of fifteen million and rapidly growing, but that alone does not explain its thriving visual arts scene: of the sheer number and diversity of artists currently working here. And where better to start than a look at Beijng’s 798 Art District? It’s an art scene on the move, and this is just one of a number of its lanes. It was just by chance that this modish pair flashed by as I was focusing on this sign, although I did react quickly! 798’s scale is better represented by this map. It’s located on what, a few years back, was Beijing’s eastern periphery: then a moribund factory area in the Dashanzi area and “798” refers to the designation of the original Bauhaus factory that became the first of the many galleries that have sprung up-40% in the last year alone. The almost completed subway line 10 will further increase the momentum-though not perhaps of the zone! There is so much to see here-and even newer art zones- that this is but the first of a series of articles. Enviro...