Beijing 798 Art District: Beijing, China

The 798 Art District is located at the original site of the "North China Radio United Equipment Factory" (718 United Factory) built during the "First Five-Year Plan" period of the People's Republic of China. The 718 joint factory (700 factory, 706 factory, 707 factory, 718 factory, 797 factory, 798 factory) was personally instructed by Premier Zhou Enlai and was built by the GDR to build the largest component base in Asia. In 1999, the sixth factory was integrated to form Seven Star Group.

At the beginning of the 21st century, under the tide of state-owned enterprise reform, 798 has become a gathering place for artists to create by virtue of its cheap rent, tall LOFT space inside, unique Bauhaus architectural style and proximity to the Central Academy of Fine Arts. After 20 years of development, Beijing 798 Art District has gradually realized the gradual transformation from an original electronic manufacturing factory to a cultural and creative industry cluster integrating a variety of cultural formats. At present, 798 Art District has become the vane and cultural business card of China's modern and contemporary culture and art, and 798 has also evolved into a cultural concept and an important platform for cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Up to now, the scale of the 798 Art District has expanded from 73,000 square meters of factory buildings to 253,800 square meters, of which the Bauhaus built by Germany has a construction area of more than 70,000 square meters. The number of cultural and artistic and creative institutions in the 798 Art District has also increased year by year, accounting for 73.61% to 78.65% of the total number of institutions, covering national cultural exchange centers from 19 countries and regions around the world, international cultural and artistic institutions, well-known institutions combining Chinese tradition and contemporary art, etc., as well as nearly 100 well-known artists at home and abroad. The 798 Art District has received visits from 130+ heads of state and dignitaries, attracted 10 million Chinese and foreign delegations and tourists, of which 30% were foreign tourists, and held nearly 4,000 art and cultural activities. In 2020, 798 Art District was rated as a Beijing Municipal Cultural Industry Demonstration Park and was qualified to create a National Cultural Industry Demonstration Park. Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, CCTV, Beijing Daily, Beijing TV and other central and municipal mainstream media have carried out key reports with the titles of "Beijing's New Cultural Landmark" and "Sample of Grassroots Cultural Reform". In 2021, 798 Art District was successively selected as one of the first batch of national-level night-time cultural tourism consumption clusters, Beijing Multicultural Tourism Experience Base, 2021 Beijing Internet Celebrity Check-in Places Recommended List, and 2021 Beijing Excellent Micro Travel Routes. In the future, under the leadership of the owner and operator Seven Star Group, the 798 Art District will also develop in an orderly manner around the construction of Beijing's "four centers".