Enjoy art by the sea at a new gallery in northern China

UCCA is in charge of all the things related to the preparations of the shows, while the museum is owned by the Aranya community founder Ma Yin, who set up the project comprising private mansions, hotels and cultural sites, five years ago.

The museum took about 18 months to complete, but the idea to build it was proposed at least three years ago, according to Ma.

This kind of cooperation on art museums is seen as a new model for China as it seeks to keep up with the demand for more such institutions.

Last year, the London-based Victoria&Albert Museum opened a design museum in the Chinese city of Shenzhen and the Pompidou Center in Paris, which houses the world's second-largest collection of modern art, is reported to be planning to set up a franchise gallery in Shanghai in 2020.

Tinari says lots of art museums are under construction in China but many of them lack content.

"The focus is always on buildings. Few know what to do with the buildings and how to produce shows," he says, explaining why many approach UCCA for cooperation on running museums.

Ma, who came up with the idea to build an art museum at the Aranya community three years ago, says that providing good content to tourists is a key reason for its popularity.

The number of visitors to the Aranya community, a three-hour drive from Beijing, was in the tens of thousands last year compared with 2013, when nobody visited.

Now, the community has a library which was dubbed the "lonely library by the sea", a well-designed white church, studios for musicians like Chinese rock and roll star Cui Jian and a theater working with drama director Meng Jinghui.

The museum, created by architects Li Hu and Huang Wenjing from Open Architecture, has been awarded prizes for its design.

Speaking about his work, Li says: "The cell-like galleries connected together is like a creation living inside the dune. And there are apertures of different sizes and shapes in each gallery to allow natural light into the building."

Also, through these apertures, visitors can hear clearly the sound of an art video being shown at a place several rooms away.

"Lights also dance in the museum through the skylights. And the sounds of the waves, wind and art videos also mix," says Li, whose inspiration for the building came from its surroundings－the dune and the sea.

The museum looks like something that needs time and effort to protect.

"It's the only sand dune by the sea in Hebei province. And some of it was damaged because of a lack of awareness. We need time to restore the dune," says Li, who hopes that the art museum will over time be better hidden in the sand dune.