40 Hours in Beijing: Part 2

Ah, internet, you saucy minx! Now that you're working again, here is part two of the Beijing adventure:

After wandering around the hutongs, I took a subway and then a cab to meet up with my friends at 798, a contemporary art zone. I know most people attribute these feelings to mountain-climbing or meditating in a forest, but visiting 798 rejuvenated my soul. First of all, the space is incredible. It's an old factory complex that has been re-purposed into a sprawling art center, featuring tons of galleries and cafes, mostly housed in the old factory buildings. Like P.S. 1 or Dia: Beacon, the space alone was worth the visit.

I stole Jessica's camera and took some photos.


They've kept many pieces of the original factory machinery as part of the exhibition space:

A smaller gallery:



Some of the art was patriotic...


Some of the art was edgier:


Some of the art was incomprehensible - even to me, and I usually love that kind of weird, avant-garde stuff.

Also, this wasn't art, but it was still pretty confusing:

Anyway, the whole experience just felt really good. It's not like I spent all my NYC time at art museums, but I tended to visit The Whitney and P.S. 1 pretty regularly, and MoMA once in a while, and I took that easy access for granted. My friends had left at this point, but I stayed to check out some more galleries. I was so high on my art experience that I felt compelled to take a cheesy self-portrait. Here I am...jazzed!