China Daily recently reported that China “deposed France” to become the third largest art auction market, after the United States and the United Kingdom (h/t to Infectious Greed). According to the article, US website Artprice “disclosed that in 2007, of the 35 most expensive contemporary artists, 15 are Chinese.” I’m sure most foreigners (and most Chinese) don’t know that contemporary Chinese art has already “arrived” on the world scene.
I had long wanted to look into Chinese contemporary art, and in January, Min and I made time to drop by the Dashanzi 798 Art District ( 大山子798艺术区). Dashanzi 798 Art District, also known as the 798 Art Zone, is located near to the Airport Expressway outside the 4th Ring Road.
Getting to Dashanzi Art District
Even with the name of the district, and a map of Beijing, we found that our taxi driver was not entirely sure how to get there. I’m sure that many Beijingers have never been to this place.
Address:
- English: 798 Art District, No.4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
- Chinese: 北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路4号798艺术区
Directions:
- English: From Sanyuan Bridge or Siyuan Bridge enter the Airport Expressway, then leave the Airport Expressway at the entrance to Jiuxianqiao Rd.
- Chinese: 自驾车路线：三元桥或四元桥驶入机场高速，酒仙桥路出口下
Map courtesy of UCCA
Getting Oriented: Dashanzi 798 Art District
Dashanzi 798 Art District is made up of lots of small and large galleries. We were dropped off by the road and walked into the complex.
At the crossroads, we were faced with an overwhelming number of signs for galleries. Very confusing…
At the center of the complex is a big map.
We walked around to get oriented to the complex. There is a diverse set of galleries in the area.
798 Photo Gallery
We went to the 798 Photo Gallery below:
The Photo Gallery had an exhibit showing different Chinese families with their worldly possessions arranged outside their residence. I reframed from taking pictures directly of the artwork but here are some photos of the gallery itself:
Tunnel nearby the 798 Photo Gallery, with more galleries inside.
Sculpture around the Dashanzi 798 Art District
We literally had only 1-1.5 hours to tour the district, and it was still a nice break from a busy business trip…I would like to go back and have some more time to tour galleries, ideally with a knowledgeable guide or curator who can help me learn more about contemporary art movements in China today!
Some links:
Wikipedia 798 Art Zone – history, information
798 Art Zone official site – includes directory of restaurants, cafes, studios, companies, galleries, shopping, bookstore
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art – a nice gallery that we’ll post about in part 2 of this post
798Space – another prominent gallery and rental space
Fujikosuda blog – nice gallery of photos
National Geographic Dashanzi Walking Tour – I wish I had found this before we went. However, the map doesn’t have the street names in Chinese.
photo courtesy of National Geographic
Artrealization.com – Gallery Directory
CityWeekend.com.cn Exhibitions Listing
RedBox Review – site about Chinese Contemporary Art -with recent post about 798 District construction.
ArtZine China – another nice site about the art scene in China.
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Photo of 798 Dashanzi District, courtesy Melissa Sconyers During the year I spent in China in 2005-2006, I learned that what I admire most about the humble, hard-working...
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Dashanzi 798 Art District – taking a quick art break in Beijing – part 2 
Are there any hostels nearby the art district? thanks!
Thanks for posting this, Elliott. I’m just now discovering the treasure trove of info on this site.