Upstairs in a solemnly beautiful factory building with time-worn looks, a 52-year-old avant-garde artist sits before an Apple Macintosh, which is overlooking the rumbling tool machines on the ground floor.

"It is a style, pure and unique," said Huang Rui, a pioneer of Chinese contemporary art, just before he takes a sip of tea from a big cup that was originally designed for use on a train in 1970s China.

Huang, who runs a design studio at the eastern end of the factory-turned-art-district, is organizing the second Dashanzi International Art Festival. It will be held next month. It is being named after the place, Dashanzi, where the factory resides.

His studio is amid the steel framework that displays his latest art.

The harmonious combination of glass pieces and steel-frame mirrors create a modern style both elegant and strong.

The buildings, known as the 798 factory in Beijing's northeastern edge, came into being as the fruit of communist co-operation and brotherhood in the 1950s. Now, it is a magnet that pulls artists and art dealers who think freely and creatively.

The history

To bolster its defences, China started building an electronics factory at the site, with aid from the former Soviet Union and East Germany in 1954, indicates the 798 history book designed and written by Huang.

The construction was completed in 1957.

Architects from East Germany were brought in to design the complex, and to freshen the buildings with something China lacked at that time a sense of style and utilitarianism, the genesis in the Bauhaus revolution of 1930s Germany.

"Bauhaus is the early 20th century German school that sought to build architectural beauty in practical and industrial functions," said Wang Bing, an interior designer who works in the "art factory".

"Now, it represents a style."

The factory, at that time, was constructed to produce electronics components and military applications. It covered 640,000 square metres in northeastern Beijing.

The once-flourishing State-owned enterprise, a coveted working place for people for more than two decades, however, began to wane during the nationwide economic shake-up in the 1980s, when the government was determined to introduce market mechanisms to revitalize its economy.

Founding fathers

Many of 798's workshops were turned to ruble in the 1990s.

The company was largely reconstructed as a real estate operation that looked to rent out the decrepit buildings.

Some artists, including Huang and Xu Yong, a photographer renowned for his hutong (small alleys) pictures and who devised the hutong tour that enjoys a great popularity among foreign visitors in Beijing, came to the site in 2001 and 2002. They were searching for something different for their offices.

"I was looking for a factory room spacious enough to keep my work and my inspiration, and this place just fit my tastes," recalled Huang. He had just returned to China after 14 years of studies and living in Japan when he discovered 798.

"Besides, the architectural style is so wonderful. It brings my memories back to the history I once experienced.

"In addition, the low rent of the factory's houses was another attraction for the artists and dealers."

Huang said the tenants rented the house for an average 0.1 yuan (1.2 US cents) per square metre a day back then.

The artists changed the fate of the near-bankrupt factory and, partly, its looks.

Many sculptors, musicians, fashion designers and architects inspired a kind of "post-industrial renaissance" for 798 a similar reflection of the SoHo industrial district in Manhattan, in New York, a few decades ago.

Robert Bernell, a collector of contemporary Chinese art from the United States, set up his bookstore and publishing office in an abandoned cafeteria, in the factory, in 2001. His books, catering to artists, are popular within the art circle.

Musician Liu Suola rented space for her music studio that year.

World-famous Tokyo Gallery established Beijing Tokyo Art Projects (BTAP) in 798, with Huang's help, that year. Huang is a close friend of BTAP's owner, Yukihito Tabata.

Its first show, with the theme "The Beginning of Something Big," was staged at the end of 2002.

By the end of 2001, numerous notable contributors to the emerging Chinese contemporary art scene including Cang Xin, Chen Linyang and Bai Yiluo had set up art studios or lofts in the complex.

Booming community

Since then, artists have rushed madly into the art wonderland.

The emergence of modern artists in the complex has transformed 798 and Dashanzi from a military industrial complex into an art community and cultural district.

"It is a heavy-weighted gift that the artists presented to Beijing and the country," said Huang.

He stressed the art district will be a practical incentive to creative minds with designing values, and "that is of vital importance to a country's growth in quality after a period of accumulation based on quantity expansion.

"When a passer-by sees us turn the abandoned tool machine into a delicate art work, he will think of something."

One factory worker said: "Some of these little creatures by artists are beyond my understanding, but they are all quite interesting." He was referring to the sculpture of a red dinosaur in a large cage.

"We love this wonderful place so much, it is unique in a nice way," said two ladies from Switzerland and Australia.

They were visiting 798 Photo Gallery, at a corner of the district, during their recent trip to Beijing.

"We have seen many art districts in other countries, and I am much impressed by this one. It is very Chinese and very modern," one of the women said.

Most of the photos in the gallery cost more than US$500. The gallery was established, last March, by well-known Chinese photographer Chen Guangjun.

To date, it has signed contracts with more than 10 big names such as Xie Hailong, Wang Shilong and Lynn Yen Burgemeister within photography circles. Their photos are on display in the gallery.

"Quite a few foreigners and celebrities come to the gallery, and the business here is quite good," said a saleswoman.

About 100 metres away, along the street, sits a restaurant called 80 Seats. It is known for its French cuisine and wine.

The restaurant, in which an architect and a furniture designer invested more than 1 billon yuan (US$120 million) nearly two years ago, is managed by Liu Dan, who is secretary-general of the Paris East-West Cultural Exchange Association.

Liu, originally an established Beijing Opera singer, went to France and set up an artwork investment consulting firm in the 1980s.

His firm in Paris is still in business.

Liu, who was upset by the brain drain from China's art sector, is pleased to see the renaissance of modern art in 798, and the increasing support from the government for the art district.

"Many of the cities' officials have been to my delicately made place, and 798 has attracted attention from the government since last year," Liu told China Business Weekly.

He used a word other than "restaurant" to define his place, because it is "more than a common restaurant."

"It is valued with culture and art," continued Liu, in his gentle voice. "We talk about wine, paintings, sculptures, calligraphy, music and beyond. We do more than eat and drink here."

Due to the uniqueness in architecture and interior design, and Liu's renowned reputation within the arts community, the Liu-termed "restaurant and art gallery" has become a preferred place for celebrities, including pop singer Na Ying, Hong Kong comic star Stephen Chow, and successful business people such as Wang Shi, president of China Wanke Co Ltd, the country's largest real estate developer.

The spacious hall, which is in red and black, has hosted many news conferences of internationally famous brands including Christina Dior, Omega, BMW, Shell and Nissan.

News conferences or parties are held at this place every 10 days on average. Such events can cost 300 yuan (US$36) to 1,500 yuan (US$181) per person.

Future of 798

As the art district has expanded in scale and fame, 798 has become a brand that lures artists and dealers, and visitors who expect to know and experience more.

The Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, China's leading applied art school, is considering placing some education facilities in 798, to instill its students with a natural and practical sense of taste and beauty, Su Dan, a professor with the academy, told China Business Weekly.

Su also runs an interior designing studio in 798 with three other professors.

He enjoys the district's art atmosphere.

As an increasing number of visitors come to experience the buildings that tell stories and provoke ideas, 798 reportedly will be developed into a tourist site by the government.

"At the Kennedy Airport in New York, some tour agencies' advertising even put 798 along with the Great Wall and the Summer Palace to attract consumers," said an art dealer.

This has pricked the nerves of artists, who quietly live and work in the district.

"It is good for people to better know about this place, but I will feel uneasy if I am being watched by floods of visitors every day," Liu said. "I prefer to do my business in a quiet way.

"But, anyway, the lucky thing is it seems unlikely everyone will love this place."

(China Daily 03/07/2005 page2)