Beijing Day 11

07.18.08

798 ART ZONE
DA DONG DUCK RESTAURANT
DRUM TOWER
BELL TOWER
HUTONGS

We headed off to the 798 Art Zone to soak in some perspective. Simply put, 798 was the name of a factory which closed down. The space was then rented by sculptures. Today, the 798 Art Zone boasts over 400 galleries and artist. The energy and creativity here is unlimited.

Factory 798 has an artistic pedigree of its own. One of six large sites producing top-secret components for the Chinese military until the 1990s, 798 was built by the East German government with funds earmarked for the Soviet Union as reparation for World War II. Constructed during the late 1950s and early 1960s, just before the Sino-Soviet split, the factory was meant to be an example of harmonious collaboration between Socialist countries, led by the Soviet Union. Its Bauhaus-inspired designs were also meant to showcase (to selected observers, of course) Mao’s vision of China’s future as an advanced Socialist state founded on heavy industry and Communist ideology.

The plant came to an inglorious end in the 1990s, when the Chinese government began rolling back its subsidies for state-operated factories. A large number of the buildings were left vacant, some the size of football fields, many of them flooded with natural light. This situation opened the door for some canny officials from the Central Academy of Fine Arts who were looking for an inexpensive factory site for its sculpture department…

The attraction of 798 for artists was not only the low-cost space, which they began to convert into studios and live-in lofts. Drawn from across the country, these artists were also attracted to the site’s location in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. The region became home to foreign embassies and institutions back in the mid-1990s, and few foreigners other than students were permitted to live anywhere else in the capital.

From that modest beginning, 798 has become China’s premier hub of contemporary art.- studio international

798 is actually quite large. The different colored districts on the map above are huge! Most studios open at 10am.

Schäfer loved chicken art.

Schäfer gets some perspective on animals.

Factory space turned into gallery after gallery.

All that art worked up quite the appetite. We headed to Da Dong Roast Duck. In the 2008 that’s Beijing Restaurant Awards, Da Dong won best Chinese Restaurant of the Year and best Beijing Duck.

Hubs scans the menu…and scans…and scans…

Where is the duck already?!?

Oh! There’s a separate menu just for ducks! Da Dong is famous for their low-fat crispy-skinned duck. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Our duck was sliced table side.

To eat Beijing Duck, you place a few sauces and various vegetables, along with the duck meat in a thin wrap.

What a wonderful meal! This restaurant was amazing. Of course, after Schäfer was finished Hubs and I had to alternate eating vs. watching Schäfer at the fish tank near the restroom. My toddler has yet to grasp fine dining.

Since we had the entire afternoon to ourselves, we headed near the Bell Tower in search of more hutongs. This time, we opted for a traditional rickshaw ride.

Schäfer totally in bliss!

At the Drum Tower, we climbed the 600-year-old stairs for a view of the hutongs from above. The drum tower and the bell tower were once the keepers of “Beijing time” and would signal the closing of the city gates.

We enjoyed a short drum performance in the Drum Tower.

Look! More Beijing bike lanes!

A small patch of hutongs.

Just a 5 minute walk away is the Bell Tower.

Inside is the original 63-ton bell.

Hubs read the bus signs to find the best way back to the apartment.

For supper, we stopped at Peter’s Tex Mex. I know! We split a delicious beef burrito. Schäfer played with another American boy in the play area. Come to find out, his parents were here with NBC. They had just arrived and would be living in a hotel until September 1st.

From art to duck to rickshaws to ancient bells and drums to tex mex – today was again beyond our expectations.

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