If you are interested in contemporary Chinese art, there's a place to go: 798 Art Zone. Located in the northeast suburb of Beijing, the previous factory plant has become a haven for artists from home and abroad. Artists gather here to open galleries, art studios and cafes, and hold all kinds of art events, making the area the most resounding name in the artistic circle.

The original 798 was once a State-owned industrial plant established in the 1950s. The plant was abandoned in the late 1990s.

It became a "Soho-esque" area of international character, replete with "loft living," attracting attention from all over. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, and culture with a historically interesting location and urban lifestyle, 798 has evolved into a cultural concept. It is of interest to experts and normal folk alike, influential on concepts of both urban culture and living space.

Cheap rent and quiet surroundings rapidly turned the area into a paradise for artists. More artists moved in and established dozens of art studios, galleries, as well as book stores, cafes and restaurants.

In the 798 Art Zone, there are nearly 400 organizations, including galleries, artists' private studios, and cultural companies like animated cartoon, television media, publishing, design and consultation. These companies hail from France, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea and China among many countries and regions. 798 has become an exhibition center of Chinese culture and art, an influential cultural creative concentration area home and abroad.

Beijing's 798 Art Zone brings together celebrities of art and culture, art institutions and enterprises in fashion. Many important international art exhibitions and fashion shows are often held here, which attract plenty of movie stars and social celebrities.

In 2006, 798 was listed as one of the first concentrations of the cultural creative industry by Beijing Civic and Chaoyang District Governments. It was also named as the "Beijing 798 Art Zone Cultural Creative Industrial Base of Zhongguancun Electronic City" by Zhongguancun management committee. The atmosphere of a "creative zone and cultural park" is forming. In order to boost the prosperity and development of the 798 Art Zone, the Chaoyang District Government and Seven Star group co-founded the Beijing 798 Art Zone Development and Administration office to boost the development of contemporary art and the cultural creative industry. 

(Copywriter: Wang Liyan)