Songzhuang is a village in Tongzhou, on the eastern edge of Beijing, that became an artists' quarter almost by accident. Through the 1990s painters who could not afford studio space in the city moved outward, first to the ruins around the Old Summer Palace and then, when that community was dispersed, further east to a cluster of villages where farmhouses were cheap and large. What began as a few dozen studios is now a district of workshops, galleries, foundries and frame-makers spread across several villages, and it is still a working place rather than a tourist attraction, which is both its appeal and its difficulty.
What is there to see
The settlement is not a single street or a pedestrianised quarter; it is a network of lanes and yards, most of them occupied by studios that open by appointment or on whim. The practical anchors are the larger spaces: a public art museum building in the village centre, several private galleries with regular opening hours, sculpture yards where work in bronze and stone is cast and finished, and a scattering of cafes and small restaurants that serve the community. On any given day some gates will be open and most will not, and the pleasure of the place is in wandering and looking over walls rather than following a route.
Why painters went there
The attraction was space and rent. A farmhouse with a courtyard could be rented for very little and turned into a studio large enough to paint on a scale that city apartments did not allow, and the area was far enough from the centre to be left alone. Over time the presence of artists pulled in galleries, buyers, framers, transport firms and suppliers of canvas and paint, and the same process that made it cheap began to make it expensive. Some of the earliest residents have moved further out; others have stayed and now run large studios with assistants.
Practical notes
Songzhuang is in Tongzhou, roughly an hour and a half from central Beijing by road, or a metro ride followed by a taxi. There is no central ticket office and no single entrance; you come for a few specific galleries and then walk. Allow most of a day if you want to see anything properly, and expect a lot of walking in dusty lanes. Most studios close on Mondays. If you are looking to buy, deal through a gallery rather than the artist directly, and get the paperwork for export clear before you commit to anything.
