第十八课 逛798艺术区 Lesson Eighteen: Visiting 798 Art District

When most people think of Beijing, they might envision China's ancient sites like the Forbidden City or even the Summer Palace. But what most people don't realize is that modern Beijing has a thriving contemporary art scene with local Chinese artists. Today, we're here in 798 Art District, or Dashanzi in Chinese. It's one of Beijing's lesser known hangouts and a great place to spend a day. It's full of cafes and art galleries with both international and Chinese artists and it definitely has a totally different feel to it than the rest of Beijing.

As you can see, the area used to be an old factory ground built during the 1950s through the cooperation between China and Russia. The East Germans helped with the architecture and construction which is why you can see they reflect the German Bauhaus style. Gradually during the 1980s, the factories declined in production and the area was pretty much deserted. But in 1995, Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts moved into the area and soon others followed suit. It is the perfect place to walk around, shoot some photos, check out art and grab a coffee. Now, remember the area is pretty big so you wanna make sure you leave yourself enough time to see everything, at least a few hours. Let's go to check it out.

The area's filled with lots of small galleries from both international and Chinese artists with all different kinds of art. Take a look at this one.

Andrea: 你好。
Fang Min: 你好。
Andrea: 这是你的画廊吗？
Fang Min: 是的，也是我的工作室。 
Andrea: 你是哪里人？
Fang Min: 我是浙江人。

GRAPHIC FLASH: 这是你的画廊吗？这 this, 是 to be, 你的 your, 画廊 gallery, 吗 a particle, 这是你的画廊吗？Is this your gallery?

Andrea: 这个看起来很抽象，很奇怪，是什么？
Fang Min: 人脸上趴着一个虫子。
Andrea: 为什么呢？ 
Fang Min: 因为佛教里面和尚是不能杀生的，所以他必须忍受住。
Andrea: 谁要买这些大的画呢？ 
Fang Min: 一般都是国外的人买的。
Andrea: 这些画多少钱？
Fang Min: 三四万吧。

Andrea: He's explaining that in the Buddhist sense, the bug represent tolerance. So, the whole theme of the exhibition is tolerance in life.

GRAPHIC FLASH: 这个看起来很抽象，很奇怪。 这个 this one, 看起来 to seem like, 很 very, 抽象 abstract, 奇怪 strange, 这个看起来很抽象， 很奇怪。This looks abstract and strange.

Andrea: OK. Well, I think I've seen enough here. Let's go to check out some other places located in the art district and ask some other people what they think about it.

Interviewee A: It's amazing. It's so much art within such a little area and I find it's really needed here in Beijing now. You walk to different districts. You're going to one store. It's all glasses. You're going to another store. It's all computer parts. You go to another area. It's all furniture. And this is the art area. So, it's great!

Interviewee B: The difference, compared to a few years ago, I think, is becoming more touristic. A lot of people and foreigners and even a lot of Chinese visit it during the weekend. Before, there are just people in art and journalists, now it's just becoming more touristic anyway. Even though it's just a place to spend the weekends, even for the people who are not that interested in art. I think this could be a good thing.

CAPTIonED PIC1
(Caption: 主持人安卓雅（Andrea）在798艺术区玩儿。Andrea enjoying Beijing's 798 art district.)

Andrea: Wow! These are cool. I can always use another coffee mug.

CAPTIonED PIC2
(Caption: 主持人安卓雅（Andrea）与咖啡杯店的销售人员交流。Andrea talks to the salesperson at the coffee cup shop.)

Shop assistant: 你好，我能帮你做什么吗？
Andrea: 你好，这些咖啡杯都很好看，谁做的呢？
Shop assistant: 这些都是陶艺师手工做的。
Andrea: 它们价格是多少？
Shop assistant: 价格都不一样。比如说，这一个是一百一十八元，这一个是一百零八元。 
Andrea: 好吧，我就买这件吧。
Shop assistant: 好的，这个是一百零八元。
Andrea: 好的，谢谢。
Shop assistant: 不客气。

GRAPHIC FLASH: 这些咖啡杯都很好看。 好看nice looking, 很very, 都 all, 咖啡杯coffee cup, 这些 these, 这些咖啡杯都很好看。These coffee cups look nice.

Now we're outside UCCA or Ullens Contemporary Center for the Arts. It's a hot spot for artists and has changing exhibitions, lectures and films. Let's see if we can get more information about what's going on right now.

Andrea: 你好。
Receptionist: 你好。
Andrea: 请问一下，这周末你们都有什么电影？
Receptionist: 您先看一下这个小册子。
Andrea: 谢谢，看起来很有趣，我很喜欢纪录片。
Receptionist: 那我建议您看二十号的那一场。
Andrea: 谢谢。

GRAPHIC FLASH: 请问一下，这周末你们都有什么电影？请问一下 Excuse me, may I ask, 这周末 this weekend, 你们 you, 都 all, 有 to have, 什么 what, 电影 film, 请问一下，这周末你们都有什么电影？Excuse me, what films do you have for this weekend?

Andrea: 798 and UCCA are known for the various art, music and film festivals. Nordox, Nordic documentary film festival is coming up. It's known for its various Scandinavian documentaries. Let's see how much the tickets are.

Andrea: 门票多少钱？
Receptionist: UCCA的会员是免费的，成人是十五元。
Andrea: 谢谢！太棒了！

Andrea: OK cool, they have movies for this weekend, so I'll definitely want to come back. Let's check out somebody's art, shall we?

GRAPHIC FLASH: 太棒了！ 太too, just, 太棒了！Just great!

(Walks into exhibition hall, looking around at paintings, photos, sculptures etc.)

GRAPHIC FLASH:

这是你的画廊吗？Is this your gallery?

这个看起来很抽象，很奇怪。This looks abstract and strange.

这些咖啡杯都很好看。These coffee cups look nice.

请问一下，这周末你们都有什么电影？Excuse me, what films do you have for this weekend?

太棒了！Just great!