| The contemporary art scene in China is still in its | | | | German designer Walter Gropius. During China's |
| early stages, but there's little doubt that it has | | | | modernization in the 1990s, most of the factory |
| come a long way since the 70s, when the Cultural | | | | was closed down due to falling orders and other |
| Revolution was responsible for the repression of | | | | factors, resulting in thousands of workers being |
| all the arts. A vivid example of China's newly | | | | laid off and the warehouses being vacated. |
| flourishing art movement is the vast complex of | | | | The buildings are architecturally simple, |
| galleries, shops and bars spearheading the | | | | emphasizing utility. Their massive ducts and vast |
| renaissance in a largely abandoned military | | | | windows were designed to help conscientious |
| electronics complex located in Beijing's Dashanzi | | | | workers increase production, and the open spaces |
| District. | | | | served as large assembly lines. The walls still bear |
| With its still intact Mao Zedong slogans propagating | | | | slogans painted during the Cultural Revolution, but |
| Marxist-Leninist thought, factory 798 is the hub | | | | now the peeling paint and massive boilers have |
| for creating and showcasing contemporary | | | | become part of the art. Currently, over seventy |
| paintings and sculpture, contrasting sharply with its | | | | artists and fifty chic enterprises have settled in. |
| fairly recent history. Warehouse rooms where | | | | It's now considered the place to go for a look at |
| workers once studied the Little Red Book are | | | | modern Chinese art. |
| now populated with painters and performers and | | | | Unfortunately, Factory 798 is an endangered |
| purveyors of gourmet food, designers of haute | | | | species. The city is continuing its campaign of |
| couture, and crafters of luxury furniture. Live | | | | urban development, replacing the labor-intense and |
| music can be heard at numerous house bars and | | | | polluting industries with low-pollution, low-capital |
| chic bookshops and cafes. Factory 798 can best | | | | office buildings and high-tech electronic industries. |
| be described as the Soho-esque district of Beijing | | | | Demolition of Factory 798 is set to begin by the |
| and is now the third most visited attraction in the | | | | end of this year. |
| city after the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. | | | | Artists have submitted a proposal to the |
| Built by the Russians in the early 1950s as part of | | | | government to save the art center, but they are |
| the war-reparations deal with Germany, the | | | | not optimistic. A final decision of the fate of |
| State-owned plant churned out electronic goods | | | | Factory 798 will be made before the end of 2007. |
| by the millions for the People's Liberation Army. | | | | One can only hope that China's center for the |
| Architecturally, the factory was built in the | | | | avant-garde remains intact and continues to |
| Bauhaus style reflecting the influence of the | | | | flourish. |