Rising from the ashes

The prosperity of the 798 district came from years of struggle by numerous artists in the district. Quite a few times, the 798 compound was threatened by demolition and conversion into an industrial district. A few of the factory workshops were even razed.

The 798 factory compound once housed the Beijing North China wireless joint equipment factory, a subsidiary of the Seven-star group.

It was designed and built in the 1950s by architects from the former East Germany. The Germans came from Dessau, where they operated the former Bauhaus school Dessau plant as a design school with some architectural facilities.

In the 1990s, the factory began losing money and gradually stopped production. The city planned to demolish the old factory at the end of 2005 and rebuild the district into a high-tech electronics zone. The Seven Star group would not only be able to then provide new jobs for its laid-off workers, but also get a new chance at business. In the meantime, the company just wanted to get some rent from the artists.

The artists were reluctant to eventually relinquish their art Eden and were determined not to give up without a fight.

In 2004, when Li Xiangqun, an established sculptor, was elected deputy to the 12th People's Congress of Beijing, he submitted the first formal petition calling on the municipal government to save the art center. The artists also organized numerous international art festivals and fashion shows to publicize their cause. In 2003, they organized "Rebuilding 798", "Blue Sky No Defense" and "Sino-German International Art Exhibition", each of which attracted thousands of visitors.

In 2006, the 798 art district was finally listed by the Beijing municipal and Chaoyang district governments as a special "creative district and cultural park".

Riding on the Olympic bandwagon, the 798 art district has made itself well-known around the world, and the world has unexpectedly found an outlet to know more about China.

Editor: Hu Zhicheng