Switching to a new track

An abandoned railway cargo station and a complex of warehouses once filled with textiles are symbols of an industrial era which has long gone.

Nevertheless, architects, designers and numerous business start-ups have breathed new life into the Dongba area of Beijing's Chaoyang district.

Since 2018, a revitalization project at the former industrial site, which dates from the 1970s, has created a new cultural park for online influencers and urban trendsetters to check out in the capital.

The park, known as Lang Yuan Station, covers nearly 140,000 square meters and has attracted more than 130 stores, enterprises and studios to set up there. It also creates chances for new brands favored by fashion-savvy Beijingers to be consumed.

The garage of the central railway station has been turned into a space that can hold 2,000 people for such events as music festivals, fashion shows and markets. A theater for 600 people and miniature exhibition spaces also feature in the station. Libraries, film studios, high-tech companies, and design companies have mushroomed in the park, bringing vitality to this once faded site.

Estudio Cano Lasso, a Spanish architecture studio, is in charge of the renewal program at Lang Yuan Station.

"Our interests are an architecture that enhances the imprint of the passing of time and a tight relation with nature," a statement of the studio says. "It is designed as space to socialize, to gather, for culture and creation ... We consider it ideal to intervene as little as possible, taking the maximum advantage of what exists."

However, some changes were necessary. The roof of the central station was replaced by new material to provide better lighting, for example. But its major steel-framed structure remains. Better road connections among the warehouses were designed to assist visits and exchanges of knowledge among various groups of people there.

The redbrick walls, a watch tower and original structures are largely kept intact, but new materials like glass and metal help the facades shine.

Pan Fei was a senior manager of a famous online travel company. When he opened Deck, a cafe by day and a bar at night, in Lang Yuan Station, he had to take on new business challenges.

Set in a corner of a warehouse faraway from the entrance of Lang Yuan, the irregular layout and architecture threw many challenges at the ambitious store owner.

"It leaves many difficulties to design the space," Pan says. "But the nearby forest and the flowing river out front gives us much inspiration. We want to create a public space interdependent with nature."

It may feel cozy when ordering a cup of coffee and lying on the sofa facing the river, but Pan has more expectations for this space. A visual design studio is based on the second floor. Pan sees Deck as a place to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle.

"The atmosphere of Lang Yuan Station is rich in culture," he says. "Such an urban renewal program can leave much room for design and imagination."

It is hard to say when Lang Yuan Station became a culture park. Since the renewal program started, the park slowly emerged. Even today, when wandering around the area, people will see a large construction site.

"Unlike other creative parks that usually open after all the infrastructure is finished, those that start a business here have a unique feeling of growing together with the park," Guo Chen, a designer and the general manager of Lang Yuan Station, says.

Its popularity is demonstrable. According to him, the park receives about 3,000 visitors on weekdays. The number is nearly 6,000 on weekends. During special events like book or food festivals, it can even rise to 12,000 to 15,000.

Guo Zhiming first visited Lang Yuan Station in 2018 for a food festival. "It still looked like an old factory back then," she recalls. "The ground was still being paved. It rained that day and the booths were soon moved from outdoors into the railway station. But I saw a place with high efficiency and great hope."

Guo Zhiming operates OurTimesHere, a multipurpose public space. It has a reading space, an office, and a cafe, but it can transform into a miniature concert hall or a stage for live shows at night.

"It has thus become a place for young people pursuing an exquisite lifestyle and fine arts," she says.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought difficulties for Guo Zhiming. After all, her business is focused on offline people-to-people connectivity. However, it led to this former office worker in Beijing's CBD creating a place for urban residents' mental cultivation.

" (The business's) operation strategy has to be adjusted from time to time," she says. "But we have to go through this pain."

There are no subway or bus connections to Lang Yuan Station, and the nearest large-scale residential compound is at least 2 kilometers away. This unconventional location for a business hub also throws more challenges upon the creatives based there.

"Access to public transport here is actually not that convenient," Guo Zhiming says. "But it also helps to refine our customers. Today's young people are willing to pay for shared values.

"Such an urban renewal program is being embraced by a group of business start-ups who expect renewal," she adds. "From design to management ideas, we've witnessed varieties of business. Many creative formats of consumption are being incubated here. It's a cooperative relationship."

Thanks to the environment of encouraging creativity, Zuo Long, an enthusiast of free diving, opened Hidive in Lang Yuan Station. This form of diving, which relies on holding one's breath rather than using scuba equipment, has become a trend among urban residents in China in recent years. In the park, Zuo has found a potential market.

"It's still popular in a small circle," Zuo says. "But it fits modern young people's socialization process, which focuses on their hobbies."

Nonetheless, even for a veteran diver like Zuo, building a diving pool in a city is a challenge. The 16-meter deep diving pool of Hidive is among the deepest facility of its kind in China.

"Both I and the managers of Lang Yuan Station had little experience," he recalls. "We keep learning, trying, and pushing our program to advance. A more tolerant atmosphere here finally enables us to grow. An urban renewal program can usher more people in to find opportunities in new industries with many possibilities."

According to Guo Chen, manager of the park, only new forms of industries fitting the ethos of creativity will be given the green light to settle there. Some maverick businesses failed here within a short space of time, but many new ones will follow them. In his eyes, it also demonstrates the park's "vitality".

"We've spent much energy to select and incubate new brands," Guo Chen says. "Consumers will surely prefer wandering in a shopping mall near their home if the brands are similar, so we have to give stores here some special characteristics."

Lang Yuan Station has annually organized about 300 cultural events since 2019, despite the effects of COVID-19. The dynamic environment has also led to a boom in business; the park is becoming the country's most important hubs for film post-production.

Who knows? Walking through the construction sites, which represent future horizons and enjoying a cup of coffee later while chewing on a sense of nostalgia, the park could offer much inspiration for filmmakers.