Thanks for the insight, Szilvia! When you say that it wasn't vibrant, do you mean the lack of visitors or do you feel that it was lacking creatively or as a cohesive community as well?

I definitely think this other place (I now checked it is called Caochangdi) wasn't buzzing with energy and that is due to partly the lack of visitors. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I myself really enjoyed spending as much time as I wanted to with a piece of art without being pushed over by a crowd of people. It was also great being able to play with taking photos of the interior and exterior of these buildings from different perspectives - I really love doing that and it's so rare you can without a big crowd of people walking into your picture =)

I honestly don't know if the artists were collaborating behind the scenes. It wasn't obvious to me that they were and it seemed more like they moved there to have a calm environment to create in. The buildings were a bit more distant and separated from each other compared to 798, most of them had pretty large gardens as well and not all galleries were open.

I put up some photos here, this is how I saw the place: https://plus.google.com/photos/115036812199486145178/albums/5681060872179033105

Thanks for your comment! I was wondering about how it's changed while I was writing this. I visited in 2008 and felt it was still organic. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip partly because, as you pointed out , it exposed me to a side of China that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. But I visited a similar art district in Shanghai last year that felt much more staid and commercial.

I still love the original intent, though, and like that it's a simple idea that could (hopefully) be replicated again to serve as a base for artists. I'd love to hear of other such spaces that you may know of that are still focused on supporting artists in their creative development.

I know of two others: Marfa, TX and the GoDown Centre in Nairobi, and they present interesting contrasts.

Marfa is interesting since it's basically a town that's full of galleries...and that's pretty much it. I'm not sure if they support artists, but it is an extraordinarily example of how based on its strong art identity it has transformed and revitalized into a major destination spot for the art scene internationally.

The GoDown Center in Nairobi is located in the industrial area, a low-income area that is funded by the Ford Foundation to promote art. It's a huge industrial square that has humble but large spaces for exhibitions, for dance troupes to practice, for an NGO that teaches graphic design to any student that's interest. It's a truly vibrant place that combines social and artistic missions. Although the spaces are plain, they highlight the incredible artistry displayed in the performances and art. When I was there hosting an event, I talked to some of the well-known local artists and they all cited that they embrace the space because it's really for the community, no other mission. It's known locally but not really known outside of Nairobi, mostly due to lack of promotional efforts.