798

Catherine and I had the day off yesterday so we headed off to 798, known as Beijing's hop art district where up-and-coming Chinese contemporary artists make their home and display their art. 798 had received a negative review from one of our colleagues who had been a week or two ago so my expectations were not very high, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. This place is essentially a Toronto Distillery District type place (gentrified old industrial spaces, lots of brick) brimming with art galleries and sprinkled with cafes. We went through some great photo galleries and the entire district itself was just filled with so many neat buildings/art/people/lines that it was a photographic paradise. 798 is currently my favourite spot to photograph in Beijing. One important thing to note is that from what we saw, a lot of the art on display had already hit the big leagues. We asked for the prices for some large photographs and the prices ranged from 3,000 to 7,000 euros. So much for finding an up-and-coming artist! I'll post some shots I took from 798 over the next little while.