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Beijing Creative Industry Self-Guided Tour
Some people hold that Chinese don't have creativity. The most impressive image of China in the global economy is that of a factory, producing cheap components for international markets such as toys and electronic devices. They can produce a widget,or a DVD, but when it comes to creativity and imagination, they just don't have the gene. But the real fact is quite the opposite. This stereotypical image is likely to change. Seeing is believing. Beijing, China's capital believes the creative industry will become a new locomotive of the city's economy.The creativity industry is composed of four sections, the software, network and computer service section; the press section; the radio, TV and film section; and the design sector. The creative industry in Beijing produced 70 billion yuan (9 billion U.S. dollars) in value-added output, or 10 percent of the municipal total.
China is not content to work as factory to the world. You will find that creativity in art and industry in design, fashion, media, and the like is fast becoming a driving national force. China is constructing a creative infrastructure at a fast speed. You can feel it in the fashionable restaurants and trendy shops mushrooming in major cities. Some imagination-driven companies are working hand in hand with the cafés and art galleries enter the gloomy ex-warehouse and factory areas.
According to the statistics, China has become the world's third-largest exporter of creative services and products. In terms of creativity industry, People say the past 20 years have been about the West pushing East, but the next 20 years will be about the East pushing West! For your glimpse of Beijing's creativity industry, we have designed a self-guided tour to cover some of the 10 creativity industry zones in Beijing. Let's go!
Beijing "Silicon Valley" ( Zhongguancun )
The Zhongguancun district in the northwest corner of Beijing not far from the Summer Palace is often dubbed "Silicon Valley". It is already inhabitated by thousands of high-tech companies, ranging from local firms large and small to international companies like Microsoft, Sun, Siemens, Nokia, NEC. Z-Park (The Zhongguancun district) is composed of seven parks, covering an area of about 100 square kilometers close to the city's internationally esteemed educational institutions such as Tsinghua University, the University of Beijing, and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).Now Zhongguancun is the center for electronic products trading and base for the creative industry at national-level. Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the plan in 2006 to turn China into an "innovation-oriented" country by 2021. The Z-Park (Zhongguancun district), China's homegrown Silicon Valley, is the pioneer in the innovation and creativity industry in China. As the largest and oldest of the over 50 national high-tech zones in China, Z-Park has become an important hub for the world corporations seeking both to develop R&D for all sectors and to have a foothold in the market in China.
How to get there:
Take subway line 13 and get off at Wudaokou, Exit A or B
798 Art Zone, or Dashanzi Art District
It is a part of Dashanzi in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. It accommodates a thriving artist community, nestled in the over 50-year abandoned military factory buildings of featuring architectural style - typical Bauhaus style with perfect combination of practicality and concision. Because of the typical modernism Bauhaus style of some factory buildings, the orderly-planned courtyard and the distinctive architectural style, more and more artists are attracted to settle here and have formed the present 798 Art Zone gradually. Now It is often likened to New York's Greenwich Village or SOHO. It is often called the 798 Art District or Factory 798. The buildings are located inside alleys number 2 and 4 on Jiuxianqiao Lu, south of the Dashanziqiao flyover. It has become China's premier center of contemporary art and is now one of the must see attraction in Beijing after the Great Wall and Forbidden City. The SOHO complex showcases the contemporary art covering over 50 galleries and art centers of various sizes and includes a blend of bookshops, cafes, and restaurants.Add: 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel：010)59789880
How to get there:
Buses: 403, 418, 629, 688,851, 909, 813 and Tong
798 Art Zone
Songzhuang Artist Village
It is actually composed of several villages around Songzhuang town in the east suburb of Beijing. There are over 1000 artists lived in these villages within Songzhuang town, forming the largest art community in the world. It is mainly scattered in eight villages as Tongli, Liuhe, Daxing, Xindian, Lama, Ren village, with Xiaopu Village as its center. Since 1994, Artist Village has become internationally famous for China contemporary art. Many works here are sold directly to the international art market and loved by many museums and collectors. By the year of 2010, it will be turned into a famous artist town of China and primarily build several creativity industrial bases. By the yare of 2020, it will be developed into the international culture creativity industrial park and creation culture and tourism district with its own unique feature.Tel: (010)89578575
AddL Songzhuang Town, Tongzhou District, Beijing
How to get there:
Buses: 808, 809, 813 and Tong 19
Songzhuang Artist Village
Gaobeidian Classical Furniture Street
It is located in the Gaobeidian village. The furniture street is 1,500 meters long, with 300 workshops and shops, making and selling Ming and Qing dynasty-style furniture. Most of the furniture made here are sold to the international market. It has become a hub for Ming and Qing Dynasty- style all over China. Gaobeidian is a one-thousand-year-old village, the nearest village outside the downtown Beijing. There you can see people how to make the furniture. Also you will have the chance to enjoy a huge selection of furniture on show in some of the workshops.Gaobeidian village
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