Beijing Day 3： 798 Modern Art Factory 第三天：七九八艺术中心

This part of my Beijing Extravaganza deserves its own post! The 798 Modern Art factory was at first a government owned factory. Maybe a weapons factory, I am not entirely sure. It was abandoned after a while and was later rediscovered by modern artists. It was taken over and turned upsidedown into a sort of underground-modern art-escapade! Now it is officially recognized by the government. However it still remains a creative hub and has an alluring artistic feel. This was one of my favorite parts of this trip. I have been wanting to go here forever! Another caption and picture post! We went early one cold Beijing morning. I was armed with jackets and my camera, ready to experience Chinese modern art up close.

请从下面开始读。Read from the bottom and make you're way up!



(A garden/park next to the factory.)

(Statue.)

(We happened to run into a film crew! They were recording an advertisement for cameras I think. Because the man and the woman [foreigners] walk up to each other and comment [in English] on a camera that the woman is holding.)

(Graffiti.)

(More ice made from dripping pipes.)

(Road through 798.)

(Support the People's Revolution Against the Capitalist Art World! Just kidding, just kidding. I don't know if this statue was made by artists or by the government when the factories were built.)

(More graffiti. What I think is interesting is that I hardly saw any graffiti that used Chinese, most was in English or Scribbles.)

(Two fashionably dressed mysterious individuals standing in front of a very big brick wall. I like this picture.)

(Water dripping from a pipe has slowly created a stalagmite of ice! Natural art!)

(The main factory hall that started it all. I don't know why there aren't any paintings up. This is the most famous part of 798. The red writing at the top of the picture says "May Chairman Mao live to be 10,000 years old!" and then it goes on too say "and then 20,000 more years!")

(All over 798 graffiti is the main form of decoration. It doesn't look anything like graffiti one sees in the USA. Maybe because this graffiti is for different purposes? Such as art.)

(I don't really even know what is going on here. This building was just on the way to one of the main galleries we were going to see.)

("Originality Square" factory-esque buildings to the side. Would Andy Warhol be jealous? I am.)

(The main drag of 798 still has that factory feel to it. The center used to be a factory, then it was abandoned, later modern artists took it over for work space. Now it is an art center. Still really cool.) (Giant near the main drag of 798.)

(This painting, yes painting, brought back many memories of playing Super Mario Bros with my dad when I was little. I would have bought this!)

(Making a disapproving face at a slightly risque statue.)

(Painting in one of the galleries, the background is the Forbidden City. It looks like a hand that has somehow found a hole in our demention.)

(From left to right: Our financial sponsor/friend Taotao, his girlfriend/our friend Lulu, Ms. Ma my AFS teacher)

（Our breakfast that morning consisted of bread-cakes and pork dumplings. You dip the pork dumplings in vinegar and it is just heavenly! Especially when restaurants have poor heating!)