An exhibition at 798 Space gallery, July 2004. Old Maoist slogans are visible on the ceiling arches.

"Dashanzi Art District" (大山子艺术区, Hanyu Pinyin: Dàshānzi Yìshùqū) is the informal name of a part of Dashanzi in the Chaoyang District of Beijing that houses a thriving artist community, among 50-year old decomissioned military factory buildings of unique architectural style. It is often compared with New York's Greenwich Village or SoHo, but faces impending destruction from the forces driving Beijing's urban sprawl. Download high resolution version (1538x1166, 441 KB)An exhibition at 798 Space gallery in Beijings Dashanzi Art District. ... Download high resolution version (1538x1166, 441 KB)An exhibition at 798 Space gallery in Beijings Dashanzi Art District. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Dashanzi (大山子, Hanyu Pinyin: Dàshānzi) is a 1 square kilometer area in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, northeast of the city center. ... Beijings Chaoyang district (Simplified Chinese: 朝阳区; Hanyu Pinyin: Cháoyáng Qū) is home to a good part of Beijings diplomatic quarters, with many embassies located in the area. ... Beijing  listen (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; ; Postal System Pinyin: Peking), is the capital city of the Peoples Republic of China. ... An artist is someone who employs creative talent to produce works of art. ... Community is a set of people (or agents in a more abstract sense) with some shared element. ... A factory (previously manufactory) is a large industrial building where goods or products are manufactured. ... Architectural style constitutes a mode of classifying architecture largely by morphological characteristics in terms of form, techniques, materials, etc. ... Greenwich Village is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern) Manhattan in New York City. ... This article is about the district of Greater London. ... Urban sprawl (also called suburban sprawl and Los Angelization) describes the growth of a metropolitan area, particularly the suburbs, over a large area. ...

The area is often called the 798 Art District or Factory 798 although technically, Factory #798 is only one of several structures within a complex formerly known as Joint Factory 718. The buildings are located inside alleys number 2 and 4 on Jiǔxiānqiáo Lù (酒仙桥路), south of the Dàshānziqiáo flyover (大山子桥). Overpass in East Potomac Park, Washington, D.C. Flyover in Miami Beach, Florida An overpass (In UK, India, Hong Kong flyover) is a bridge, road or similar structure that crosses over another road. ...

Construction

The Dashanzi factory complex began as an extension of the "Socialist Unification Plan" of military-industrial cooperation between the Soviet Union and the newly-formed People's Republic of China. By 1951, 156 "joint factory" projects had been realized under that agreement, part of the Chinese government's first Five-Year Plan. However the People's Liberation Army still had a dire need of modern electronic components, which were produced in only two of the joint factories. The Russians were unwilling to undertake an additional project at the time, and suggested that the Chinese turn to East Germany from which much of the Soviet Union's electronics equipment was imported. So at the request of then-Premier Zhou Enlai, scientists and engineers joined the first Chinese trade delegation to East Germany in 1951, visiting a dozen factories. The project was greenlighted in early 1952 and a Chinese preparatory group was sent to East Berlin to prepare design plans. This project, which was to be the largest by East Germany in China, was then informally known as Project #157. 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... This article is on the politics of Mainland China. ... Five-Year Plans or Piatiletkas (пятилетка) were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. ... The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) (Traditional Chinese: 人民解放軍, Simplified Chinese: 人民解放军, pinyin: Rénmín Jiěfàng Jūn), which includes an army, navy, air force, and strategic nuclear forces, serves as the military of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a Communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... Zhou Enlai (Simplified Chinese: 周恩来; Traditional Chinese: 周恩來; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai) (March 5, 1898 – January 8, 1976), a prominent Chinese Communist leader, was Premier of the Peoples Republic of China from 1949 until his death. ... East Berlin consisted of the Soviet Sector of Berlin and was the capital of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. ...

The architectural plans were left to the Germans, who chose a functional Bauhaus-influenced design over the more ornamental Soviet style, triggering the first of many disputes between the German and Russian consultants on the project. The plans, where form follows function, called for large indoor spaces designed to let the maximum amount of natural light into the workplace. Arch-supported sections of the ceiling would curve upwards then fall diagonally along the high slanted banks or windows; this pattern would be repeated several times in the larger rooms, giving the roof its characteristic sawtooth-like appearance. Despite Beijing's northern location, the windows were all to face north because the light from that direction would cast less shadows. Alternate use: There is also a British rock band named Bauhaus. ... Form follows function is a slogan and principle of Modern architecture, including specifically: Adolf Loos The Bauhaus The Prairie Houses Horatio Greenough Louis Sullivan The Modernist Movement It is meant to suggest that architecture should let the physical characteristics necessary to creating a structure dominate in its appearance, rather than...

The chosen location was a 640,000 square meters area in Dashanzi, then a low-lying patch of farmland northeast of Beijing. The complex was to occupy 500,000 square meters, 370,000 of which were allocated to living quarters. It was officially named Joint Factory 718, following the Chinese government's method of naming military factories starting with the number 7. Fully funded by the Chinese side, the initial budget was enormous for the times: 9 million rubles or approximately 140 million RMB (US$17 million) at today's rates; actual costs were 147 million RMB. A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... 1998 Russian Federation one rouble coin. ... The renminbi (Traditional Chinese: 人民幣, Simplified Chinese: 人民币, literally means peoples currency) is the official currency of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Ground was broken in April 1954. Construction was marked by disagreements between the Chinese, Soviet and German experts, which led at one point to a six-month postponement of the project. The Germans' harshest critic was the Russian technology consultant in charge of Beijing's two Soviet-built electronics factories (714 and 738), who was also head consultant of the Radio Industrial Office of the Second Ministry of Machine Building Industry. The disputes generally revolved around the Germans' high but expensive quality standards for buildings and machines, which were called "over-engineering" by the Russians. Among such points of contention was the Germans' insistence, historical seismic data in hand, that the buildings be built to whistand earthquakes of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale, whereas the Chinese and Russians wanted to settle for 7. Communications expert Wang Zheng, head of Communications Industry in the Chinese Ministry of National Defense and supporter the East German bid from the start, ruled in favor of the Germans for this particular factory. See also: 1953 in architecture, other events of 1954, 1955 in architecture and the architecture timeline. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ...

At the height of the construction effort, more than 100 East German foreign experts worked on the project. The resources of as many as 22 of their factories supplied the construction; at the same time, supply delays were caused by the Soviet Red Army's tremendous drain on East Germany's industrial production. The equipment was transported directly through the Soviet Union via the Trans-Siberian railway, and a 15-km track of railroad between Beijing Railway Station and Dongjiao Station was built especially to service the factory. US-educated scientist Dr. Luo Peilin (罗沛霖), formerly head of the preparatory group in 1951-1953, was Head Engineer of Joint Factory 718 during its construction phase. Dr. Luo, now retired in Beijing, is remembered by his former colleagues as a dedicated perfectionist whose commitment to the obstacle-strewn project was a major factor of its eventual success. Red Army flag The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya in Russian), the armed forces organised by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ... Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal Amur Mainline in green. ... Beijing Railway Station (September 2004 image) Beijing Railway Station (Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 北京站, Hanyu Pinyin: Beijing Zhan) is railway station, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). ... Perfectionism can refer to: perfectionism (philosophy) perfectionism (psychology) perfectionist movement a utopian societal movement in the late 19th, early 20th century United States from which hails Oneida Society and which is historically related to the Modern Spiritualist movement. ...

Operation

Joint Factory 718 began production in 1957, amid a grandiose opening ceremony and display of Communist brotherhood between China and East Germany, attended by high officials of both countries. The first director was Li Rui (李瑞), who had been involved in the early negotiations in Berlin. See also: 1956 in architecture, other events of 1957, 1958 in architecture and the architecture timeline. ...

The factory quickly established a reputation for itself as one of the best in China. Through its several danwei or "work units", it offered considerable social benefits to its 10,000-20,000 workers, especially considering the relative poverty of the country during such periods as the Great Leap Forward. The factory boasted, among others: A work unit or danwei is the place of employment within the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Great Leap Forward (Simplified Chinese 大跃进, Traditional Chinese 大躍進, pinyin: Dà yuè jìn) was a campaign by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of the Peoples Republic of China from 1958 to early 1960 aimed at using mainland Chinas plentiful supply of cheap labor to rapidly industrialize the...

• the best housing available to workers in Beijing, providing fully furnished rooms to whole families for less than 1/30 of the workers' income;
• diverse extra-curricular activities such as social and sporting events, dancing, swimming, and training classes;
• its own athletics, soccer, basketball and volleyball teams for men and women, ranked among the best in inter-factory competitions;
• a brigade of German-made motorcycles, performing races and stunt demonstrations;
• an orchestra that played not only revolutionary hymns, but also German-influenced classical Western music;
• literary clubs and publications, and a library furnished with Chinese and foreign (German) books;
• Jiuxianqiao hospital, featuring German equipment and offering the most advanced dental facilities in China.

The factory even had its own volunteer military reserves or jinweishi (近卫师), which numbered hundreds and were equipped with large-scale weapons and anti-aircraft guns. American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...

Workers' skills were honed by frequent personnel exchanges, internships and training in cooperation with East Germany. Different incentives kept motivation high, such as rewards systems and "model worker" distinctions. At the same time, political activities such as Maoism study workshops kept the workers in line with Party doctrine. During the Cultural revolution, propaganda slogans for Mao Zedong Thought were painted on the ceiling arches in bright red characters (where they remain today at the latter tenants' request). Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛泽东思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... Communist Party of China flag The Communist Party of China (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; pinyin: Zhōnggu ngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A poster during the Cultural Revolution The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: 无产阶级文化大革命; Traditional Chinese: 無產階級文化大革命; pinyin: wú chǎn jiē jí wén huà dà gé mìng, literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wén huà dà gé mìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or simply 文革 wén gé... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛澤東思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), also called Marxism-Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM), is a variant of communism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ...

Frequent VIP visits contributed to the festive atmosphere. Notable guests included Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Kim Il-Sung. Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping  listen? ( Simplified Chinese: 邓小平; Traditional Chinese: 鄧小平; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-ping; pronounced Dung Shyao-ping; August 22, 1904— February 19, 1997) was a revolutionary elder in the Communist Party of China (CPC) who served as the de facto ruler of the Peoples... Jiāng Zémín (born August 17, 1926) was the core of the third generation of Communist Party of China leaders, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the Peoples Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of... Liú Shàoqí (Simplified Chinese: 刘少奇 Traditional Chinese: 劉少奇 Wade-Giles: Liu Shao-chi) (November 24, 1898 – November 12, 1969) was a leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Peoples Republic of China. ... Zhu De Zhū Dé (朱德, Wade-Giles: Chu Teh, zi: Yùjiē 玉阶) (December 1886 - July 6, 1976) was a Chinese Communist military leader and statesman. ... Kim Il-sung (April 15, 1912–July 8, 1994) was a Korean Communist politician and the ruler of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) from 1948 until his death. ...

The Joint Factory produced a wide variety of military and civilian equipment. Civilian production included acoustic equipment for Beijing's Workers' Stadium and Great Hall of the People, as well as all the loudspeakers on Tiananmen Square and Chang'an Avenue. Military components were also exported to China's Communist allies, and helped establish North Korea's wireless electronics industry. Great Hall of the People by Day. ... Closeup of a loudspeaker driver A loudspeaker is a device which converts an electrical signal into sound. ... Tiananmen Square (天安门广场; Traditional: 天安門廣場; Pinyin: Tiānānmén Guǎngchǎng) is a large paved public plaza near the middle of Beijing, China in front of the Forbidden City, facing south. ... Changan Avenue Changan Avenue is a major through route in Beijing, China. ... Wireless is an old-fashioned term for a radio receiver, referring to its use as a wireless telegraph. ...

After 10 years of operation, Joint Factory 718 was split into more manageable components, such as sub-Factories 706, 707, 751, 761, 797 and 798. The first Head of sub-Factory 798 (the largest) was Branch Party Secretary Fu Ke (傅克), who played a major role in recruiting skilled workers from southern China and among returned overseas Chinese. Overseas Chinese (華僑 in pinyin: huáqiáo, or 華胞 huábāo, or 僑胞 qiáobāo) are ethnic Chinese who live outside of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. ...

However, the factory came under pressure during Deng Xiaoping's reforms of the 1980s. Deprived of governmental support like many state-owned enterprises, it underwent a gradual decline and was eventually rendered obsolete. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, most sub-factories had ceased production, 60% of the workers had been laid off, and the remains of the management were reconstituted as a real-estate operation called "Seven-Star Huadian Science and Technology Group", charged with overseeing the industrial park and finding tenants for the abandoned buildings. Economic reforms have triggered internal migrations within China. ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is an enterprise, often a corporation, owned by a government. ... Unemployment rates in the United States. ...

Artistic rebirth

The Dashanzi factory complex was vacated at around the time when most of Beijing's contemporary artist community was looking for a new home. Avant-garde art being frowned upon by the government, the community had traditionally existed on the fringes of the city. From 1984 to 1993, they worked in run-down houses near the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in northwestern Beijing, until their eviction. They had then moved to the eastern Tongxian County (now Tongzhou District), more than an hour's drive from the city center. A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... The Imperial Gardens as they once stood The Old Summer Palace, known in China as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness (圓明園), and originally called the Imperial Gardens (御園), was an extremely large complex of palaces and gardens 8 km (5 miles) northwest of the walls of Beijing, built in the... Eviction is a legal process by which a landlord forces a tenant to move out of the landlords property involuntarily and usually permanently. ...

Then in 1995, Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts (http://www.cafa.com.cn/asp/index.asp) (CAFA), looking for cheap, ample workshop space away from downtown, set up in the now defunct Factory 706. The temporary move became permanent and in 2000 Sui Jianguo (隋建国), Dean of the Department of Sculpture, located his own studio in the area. The cluttered sculpture workshops have always remained open for visitors to peek at the dozens of workers milling about. 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sculptor redirects here. ...

In 2001, Texan Robert Bernell moved his Timezone 8 Art Books (http://www.timezone8.com) bookshop and publishing office (founded in 1997) into a former factory canteen; he was the first foreigner to move in. One of Timezone 8's early employees was fashion designer Xiao Li, who along her husband, performance artist Cang Xin, helped artists secure and rent spaces in the area. 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... State nickname: Lone Star State Other U.S. States Capital Austin Largest city Houston Governor Rick Perry Official languages None. ... Laowai is a term in Mandarin Chinese, is a casual and somewhat friendly term for faggot. The term is supposed not to draw in rolling eyes of discontent from foreigners in China, however, some foreigners have expressed different opinions at that. ...

Through word-of-mouth, artists and designers started trickling in, attracted to the vast cathedral-like spaces. Despite the lack of any conscious aesthetic in the Bauhaus-inspired style, which grounded architectural beauty in practical, industrial function, the swooping arcs and soaring chimneys had an uplifting effect on modern eyes, a sort of post-industrial chic. At the artists' requests, workers renovating the spaces preserved the prominent Maoist slogans on the arches, adding a touch of ironic "Mao kitsch" to the place. Chimney stacks on a Newcastle upon Tyne building A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. ... A post-industrial society is a proposed name for an economy that has undergone a specific series of changes in structure after a process of industrialization. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Mao. ... Kitsch is a term categorizing art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. ...

Later that year, Mr. Tabata Yukihito from Japan's Tokyo Gallery (http://www.tokyo-gallery.com) set up Beijing Tokyo Art Projects (http://www.tokyo-gallery.com/btap/main.html) (BTAP, 北京东京艺术工程) inside a 400-m² division of Factory 798's main area; this was the first renovated space featuring the high arched ceilings that would become synonymous with the Art District. BTAP's 2002 opening exhibition "Beijing Afloat" (curator: Feng Boyi), drew a crowd of over 1,000 people and marked the beginning of the popular infatuation with the area. A curator of a cultural heritage institution (e. ...

In 2002, designer artist Huang Rui (黄锐) and hutong photographer Xu Yong (徐勇) set up the 798 Space gallery (http://www.798space.com) (时态空间) next to BTAP. With its cavernous 1200-m² floor and multiple-arched ceilings at the center of Factory 798, it was and still is the symbolic center of the whole district. (Huang and Xu since designed at least seven spaces in the area and became the prime movers and de facto spokespersons of the District.) A glass-fronted café was set up in the former office section at the back of the 798 space, opening into a back alley now lined with studios and restaurants such as Huang's own At Café, and Cang Xin's #6 Sichuan restaurant, the area's "canteen". 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A hutong in eastern urban Beijing near Dongsishitiao. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... Szechuan Cuisine or Sichuan Cuisine (川菜, pinyin: chuān cài), originating in the Sichuan province of western China, has an international reputation for being spicy and flavorful. ...

In 2003, Lu Jie (卢杰) set up the Long March Foundation (http://longmarchfoundation.org), a ongoing project for artistic re-interpretation of the historical Long March, inside the 25,000 Li Cultural Transmission Center (二万五千里文化传播中心). Around that time, Singapore-owned China Art Seasons (北京季节画廊) opened for display for pan-Asian art, and was one of several new galleries setting up at that time. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... The Long March (長征, pinyin:Chángzhēng) was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Communist Army to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. ... In measurement, Chinese units (市制 Pinyin: Shìzhì, city standard) are the units used in Imperial China, and are still used. ...

Notable exhibitions

Several exhibitions of note took place in 2003. In March, Huang Rui and Shu Yang's "Transborder Language 2003" (curator: Li Xianting) combined poetry and performance art. "Blue Sky Exposure" was held outdoors in southern Beijing and then relocated to the Art District. On April 13, despite widespread fear of public gatherings during SARS, the exhibitions "Reconstruction 798" (798 space) and "Operation Ink Freedom" (25,000 Li Cultural Transmission Center) drew crowds of 5,000 and definitely confirmed the area's widespread appeal. Exhibition is a word with several meanings. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Performance art is art where the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time, constitute the work. ... Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia. ...

In July, with Beijing in full construction boom, Wang Wei's "Temporary Space" featured workers completely enclosing an area of the exhibition with a brick wall and then removing the bricks one by one. In September, "Left Hand - Right Hand" (curator: Feng Boyi) showcased Chinese and German sculptors at 798 Space and Daoyaolu Workshop A. Among the works was Sui Jianguo's enormous concrete sculpture "Mao's Right Hand", which is just what the name suggests, and an example of modern Chinese art's ironic reflections on history. Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... This article is about the construction material. ...

The first Beijing Biennale (http://www.bjbiennale.com.cn) was held in September 18, 2003 at the Art District and featured 14 exhibitions. "Tui-Transfiguration" (curator: Wu Hung; tui here roughly means moult) featured photographs by East Village chronicler Rong Rong (荣荣) and his wife, Japan-born Inri (映里). Their works notably featured their own naked bodies in various strange locales, and were generally well-received despite being criticized by some as typical of the self-centered nature of much art in the area. In birds, moulting or molting is the routine shedding of old feathers. ... Avenue A from Tompkins Square Park The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. ... Nudity or nakedness is the state of wearing no clothing. ...

The first Dashanzi International Art Festival (http://diaf.vip.myrice.com), directed by the ever-present Huang Rui, was held from April 24 to May 23, 2004. This first edition, named Radiance and Resonance/Signals of Time (光•音 / 光阴), was beset by logistical problems arising from landowner Seven-Star Group's increasing irritation with the art community. As such, the festival became as much a public protest against the area's upcoming destruction that a showcase of art itself. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

One of the most (in)-famous displays at the Festival was performance artist He Yunchang having himself cemented shut in a wooden box with only two pipes for ventilation, and staying there for 24 hours before being chiseled out, prompting the proverbial "Is it art?" questionings. "Shock" exhibitions have become increasingly common in the Art District (see China Daily's article [ht tp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/02/content_356928.htm "The avant-garde art goes too far?"] for some extreme examples). In the general sense, a cement (Latin caementum) is any material with adhesive properties. ... Ventilation is air circulation of air, typically between a room, a tunnel, etc. ...

Gentrification

The district's popularity has exploded since the opening of BTAP and 798 Space in 2002, with scores of galleries, lofts, publishing firms, design companies, high-end tailor shops, cafés and fancy restaurants setting up. In 2003, around 30 artists and organizations had set up studios or offices in the area, with 200 more reportedly on the waiting list to move in. An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art, and usually primarily paintings and sculpture. ... A loft is an upper room or storey in a building, used either for storage (as in most private houses) or for a specific purpose, eg. ... Publishing is the activity of putting information in the public arena. ... Design as a process can take many forms depending on the object being designed and the individual or individuals participating. ... A tailor is a person whose occupation is to sew clothes custom-fit to individuals, and to repair clothes. ... Coffeehouse - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

Fashionable clubs also sprang up such as Zhou Ying's "Vibes", known for its fetish nights. A former factory cafeteria became Yan Club (http://www.yanclub.com) (仁俱乐部), owned by well-known Beijing socialite and writer Li Xuebing or "Bing Bing" (冰冰), also owner of Sanlitun's Jam House. Notable performers at Yan included Morcheeba in March 2003. This article concerns the concept of fetishism in anthropology. ... Sanlitun is a bar street in eastern urban Beijing. ... Morcheeba is an English band that mixes influences from trip hop, rhythm and blues and pop. ...

In keeping with the area's "community spirit", most galleries and spaces in Dashanzi do not charge either exhibitors or visitors. Instead, they generally sustain themselves by hosting profitable fashion shows and corporate events; among others, Sony had a product launch gala at 798 space, and watch-maker Omega presented a fashion show at Yan Club. Others include Christian Dior, Royal Dutch/Shell and Toyota; supermodel Cindy Crawford also made an appearance. Even Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings held an event in the district, which some found unsettling given the real-estate industry's designs on the land it sits on. Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (NYSE: SNE) is a consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Omega (Ω ω) (literally, big O) is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet. ... Christian Dior ( January 21, 1905 – October 24, 1957) was an influential French fashion designer. ... A Shell petrol station sign in the UK The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (called Shell Oil in North America), has its headquarters split between the Shell Centre in London, United Kingdom and The Hague, Netherlands. ... Toyota redirects here. ... Cindy Crawford Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American supermodel and actress. ... Li Ka Shing (李嘉誠 pinyin: Lǐ Jiāch ng, Jyutping: Lei5 Gaa1-sing4), is the wealthiest person in Hong Kong and East Asia. ... Cheung Kong Holdings is a large conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong, consisting of five companies that are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. ...

As such, Dashanzi is now a center of Beijing's nascent "BoBo" (bourgeois-bohemian) community. Huang Rui and Xu Yong are good representatives of the type. And a local guru of sorts is artist/curator/architect Ai Weiwei (艾未未), whose self-designed house in Dashanzi just outside the factory complex was a trendsetter. True to BoBo style, he is an icon of consumerism as much as counterculture, working with Herzog & de Meuron on the design of the Beijing National Stadium. A guru (गुरू Sanskrit) is a teacher in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. ... Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. ... In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream. ... Herzog & de Meuron is a Swiss architect firm with an international reputation, founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog (born 19 April 1950 in Basel) and Pierre de Meuron (born 8 May 1950 in Basel), its two main partners. ... This is the future Beijing National Stadium and was approved by the city council. ...

In the absence of any rent control, tenants' costs have escalated. In 2000-2001, rents were 0.8 RMB per square meter per day (24 RMB or US$2.90/m²/month, or about US$0.27/sq.foot/month). They increased slighty to 30 RMB/m²/month in 2003, and then doubled to 60 RMB/m²/month (US$0.67/sq.foot/month) in 2004. Total costs can be quite high considering the average 200-400 m² area of the spaces, and the overhead of renovating and retrofitting the rooms to use modern appliances. Rent Control refers to laws or ordinances that regulate how much a property can be rented for or how much rent can be increased at certain times, such as the renewal of a lease. ... A square foot is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 foot (unit of length) long. ...

Another sign of creeping gentrification is the increasing number of luxury cars parked near the galleries; local artist Zhao Bandi purchased the first Alfa Romeo convertible in Beijing. Some (but not all) of the resident "starving artists" and their patrons are quite rich compared to the other occupants of the area, the remaining factory workers. Some of the workers' workshops are still operational on a small scale, mostly doing car repair or industrial laundry. This once impoverished part of Jersey Citys historic downtown is quickly becoming gentrified. ... Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturing company, founded as Darracq Italiana by Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. ...

Some local artists such as Zhang Zhaohai, a New-York trained art critic and curator, and architect Zhu Jun, a new Dashanzi resident, have criticized the Art District as being less about art and more about show. Says Zhang: "Few of the artists come to seriously practice art. Most of them just come for opportunities to exhibit and sell works or just have parties and gatherings." (China Daily) (http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/63022.htm)

Destruction?

In the days of Joint Factory 718, Dashanzi was chosen for its peripheral position well outside the city center. The artists who later moved there were coming from the edges of the city as well. Today however, the area sits right on the strategic corridor between the Capital Airport and downtown Beijing along the Airport Expressway, considered of vital importance to the 2008 Olympic games. In the context of China's current real estate bubble, the district is highly likely to be destroyed in the near future; the western entrances of the complex are already flanked by the Jiuxian and Hongyuan luxury apartment towers. Current government projects call for the expansion of the neighbouring industrial park to turn all of Dashanzi into a high-tech development zone similar to Zhongguancun. Landowner Seven-Star Group thus hopes to re-employ some of the 10,000 laid-off workers it is still responsible for. Airport terminal architecture in Beijing Airport (July 2004 image) Beijing Capital International Airport (北京首都国际机场 Pinyin: Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng) is an airport in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. ... Airport Expressway (heading towards the airport, July 2004 image) The old and the new: The Airport Expressway Toll Gate at Xiaotianzhu (August 2004 image) Old Airport Road (August 2004 image) The Airport Expressway (机场高速公路, Hanyu Pinyin: Jīchǎng Gāosù Gōnglù) is an expressway in Beijing, China, which links central Beijing to... (Redirected from 2008 Olympic games) The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing in the Peoples Republic of China from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 8 PM on August... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... An economic bubble occurs when speculation in a commodity causes the price to increase, thus producing more speculation. ... An industrial park is an area of land set aside for industrial development. ... Categories: China geography stubs | Beijing ...

Influential members of the artist community are lobbying various government instances to persuade them to allow the old buildings to remain, as part of a cultural center which Beijing otherwise lacks and that can only grow organically. They point out that such communities are important if Beijing, and China, is to become a major source of creative design instead of mere manufacturing. (This issue has far-reaching implications in the domain of intellectual property protection in China - some experts believe that the local IP laws will start to be enforced only when China becomes a source of its own intellectual property.) Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individuals or organizations point of view is represented in the government. ... In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea or of other intangible subject matter. ...

Part of the lobbying effort is resident sculptor Li Xiangqun, professor at the Academy of Arts and Design (http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/docsn/msxy/index-en.html) of Tsinghua University, who was elected deputy of the 12th National People's Congress in 2004. Li presented the municipal government with a formal bill in February, requesting suspension of the destruction plans and preservation of the buildings as part of an Olympic-caliber cultural center. Tsinghua University 自強不息，厚德載物 (Self-discipline and social commitment) Tsinghua University (Pinyin: Qīnghuá Dàxué; Traditional: 清華大學; Simplified: 清华大学; Wade-Giles Ching-hua Ta-hsüeh) is one of the most prestigious universities in China. ... The Great Hall of the People, where the NPC convenes The National Peoples Congress (全国人民代表大会 in Pinyin: Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì, literally Pan-Nation Congress of the Peoples Representatives), abbreviated PNCOTPR, is the highest legislative body in the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Professors from architecture schools such as Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Southern Californian Institute of Architecture (http://www.sciarc.edu) (SCI-Arc) have proposed various development plans for the area that involve preserving the buildings, although those do not appear especially profitable financially.

Meanwhile, attempts have been made to appeal to the developpers' sense of economics by pointing out similarities with New York's Greenwich Village and SoHo, where highly profitable real estate is partly due to the presence of former post-industrial artists' dwellings. Those arguments have so far been ignored.

As of 2004, Seven-Star Group has frozen the rental of new spaces and prohibited all renewals. Tenants now resort to subdividing and subleasing their spaces, to which the Group has responded by attempting to forbid subleasing to cultural organizations or to foreigners, hoping to drive out the artists. Tenants, despite some of them having leases still valid for several years, have been given the ultimatum of December 31, 2005 to vacate the premises. (China Daily) (http://english.sohu.com/2004/07/05/42/article220864288.shtml) 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Book references

• Huang Rui (黄锐), editor (2004). Beijing 798: Reflections on Art, Architecture and Society in China (http://www.timezone8.com/798color.htm) (798工厂：创造北京的新艺术街、建筑、社会). Hong Kong: Timezone 8 (http://www.timezone8.com) / Thinking Hands (现代书店艺术书屋 / 思想手设计). ISBN 988-97262-3-8.

• Zhu Yan, with contributions by Yin Jinan and Li Jiangshu (2004). 798: A Photographic Journal. (http://www.timezone8.com/798zhuyan.htm). Hong Kong: Timezone 8. (http://www.timezone8.com) ISBN 988-97262-7-0.

External links

• Xiao Changyan (July 5, 2004). End of an era? (http://english.sohu.com/2004/07/05/42/article220864288.shtml) China Daily.

• Tang Yuankai (June 10, 2004). 798: Beijing's Art Community. (http://www.bjreview.com.cn/200423/Nation-200423(C).htm) Beijing Review (http://www.bjreview.com.cn) 47 (23).

• Xie Chen (Nov. 2003). New 798 Art Area: Life in a Loft. (http://www.china-pictorial.com/chpic/htdocs/English/content/200311/6-1.htm) China Pictorial. (http://www.china-pictorial.com)

• Artists find new haven (http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/63022.htm) (April 2003). China Daily.