798 Art Zone

Opening Hours & Ticket Prices

Opening hours: all day long, best visited in the afternoon. Most galleries are closed on Mondays.
Entrance fee: free, some galleries charge a small fee to enter
Average time for this activity: 2 to 4 hours

798 Art District is located in the Dashanzi area is the site of state-owned factories including Factory 798, which originally produced electronics. The factory was abandoned at the time when Beijing’s contemporary artists were looking for a new venue. Modern art wasn’t appreciated by the Government and most of the artists were working on back streets.

In 1995, the central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) set up in Factory 706. The move which was made on a temporary basis became permanent, and in 2000 the dean of the Department of Sculpture located to the district.

Beginning in 2002, artists and cultural organizations began to divide, rent out, and re-make the factory spaces, gradually developing them into galleries, art centers, artists’ studios, design companies, restaurants, and bars.