A former equipment factory area built in a Sovietized Bauhaus style by East German architects in the 1950s, 798 Art Zone (aka 798 Art District or Factory 798) is now home to Beijing's thriving contemporary art community. With an orderly collection of industrial plants, wide streets and red-bricks walls, here is where history, reality, industry and the arts all fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

In the last several decades the area has drawn art organizations and artists to rent the vacant plants and transform them gradually into a district of galleries, art studios, fashion shops and creative spaces.

The original 798 factory was the earliest area where the art organizations and artists congregated and hence the area got its name.

798 Art Zone is now so large (230,000 square meters) that it's become a neighbourhood unto itself, with streets, cafes, restaurants, shops, theaters, outdoor sculptures, installations, visual media and, of course, a huge number of galleries and studios. You can easily spend a day exploring the place and not see everything.

Most visitors make a nice afternoon excursion out of it, including a relaxing brunch or lunch with plenty of time to wander about.

798 easily competes with art districts you might find in New York, London, Paris or Berlin and it has the distinct vibrant, trendy and face-forward feeling unique to China's maturing art scene. 

A visit to Beijing is not complete without a visit to 798 Art Zone, which provides insights into the new China that you can't get from focusing only on Beijing's historic relics like the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.

Check out their website for details of recent and upcoming exhibitions and activities. Entrance is free and things generally get started around 10am.

How to get there:

Located at 4 Jiuxianqiao Road in Chaoyang District, 798 is about a 20-minute drive equidistant between the city center and Beijing International Airport (which also makes it a good stop on your last day before you fly out of Beijing).

Take a taxi for around 30 RMB for catch Bus No. 403, 418, 629, 688, 909 to Dashanzi Lukou Dong. Here is a map of the area.
 
Photo by Rebekah Pothaar.