Anyone can become an art collector at the fair

By Xinji Letu

The biggest fair for young artists and their affordable work begins next Monday at Times Art Museum and CITC Atrium near the central business district (CBD).

The First CBD Affordable Art Festival will last until July 24, with lots of works from more than 100 emerging local artists.

“We are featuring more than 125 artists and around 800 paintings, which is huge compared with similar events before,” said Elena Goncharova, chief organizer of the festival.

This festival is the first event of its kind in the CBD area, Goncharova said.

“Traffic is highest in this area, so we can attract more collectors than anywhere else. Our slogan is: become an art collector with us!”

Goncharova said prices of works range from 1,000 to 10,000 yuan, which she thinks is reasonably affordable for good art.

“The main idea is to offer people who were not interested in art a chance to develop a personal interest,” she said.

The works that will be exhibited come from popular young artists and even some art students.

“We are trying to work with more young artists, some of whom have not yet graduated from art school. We are really trying to find new talent, follow them and develop them,” Goncharova said.

Country Fair in CBD tomorrow

This month’s Country Fair will be held at the Guanghua International complex in CBD tomorrow. More than 20 participating farmers, vendors and environmental and rural aid NGOs will be there, including Little Doney Farm and Phoenix Commune, organic food vendors like Le Fromager de Pekin and Mr. Rice Wine, as well as organizations like Green Beagle, Peace Women Across the Globe and Institue for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Where: Office Park (east side of The Place), 1F Tower AB In front of Gori (across from Costa Coffee), Jintong Xi Lu, Chaoyang District

Open: 10:30 am – 4 pm

Cost: free

(By Wei Ying)

CBD lets users stay online at all times

By Xinji Letu

Lu Bin is a businessman – head of research and consulting at a multinational company – and for him, being able to stay online is crucial.

On Tuesday, he interviewed a job applicant at a restaurant in Sanlitun Village, and as soon as it was over, he emailed an evaluation back to his company’s headquarters in Shanghai.

That’s how business is done these days.

Whether waiting in line or waiting for a friend, the Internet can make time pass that much faster, especially with the proliferation of smart phone applications, social networking sites and online shopping. That’s why people have so warmly greeted a central business district (CBD) plan to give people access to the Internet at all times in that area.

The trial phase of the project began on April 29. According to the CBD Administrative Committee, in public outdoor areas around CBD (about 3.99 square kilometers), anyone can enjoy free Internet access.

The network name is “CBD-WLAN.” After connecting, users will be directed to the homepage of CBD Wireless Network. After entering one’s cell phone number and a displayed code, a password will be texted to the user’s phone.

Users are given four hours of free access.

For technical questions, call 6500 4387.

Although there are a growing number of free Wi-Fi hotspots in Beijing, 3G plans are the most reliable. “It appears more stable,” said Yang Xinwei, a smart phone user.

For laptop users, there are two major 3G operators: China Unicom and China Telecom. A wireless Internet access card is required, and fees vary from 100 yuan to 2,180 yuan, with different monthly packages.

For smart phone users, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom provide 3G service. Monthly charges vary from 28 yuan to 300 yuan.

For China Unicom information, visit 3g.10010.com or call 10010. For China Mobile, visit 10086.cn/brand/G3/ or call 10086. For China Telecom, visit ct10000.com or call 10000.

Singapore’s top bookseller brings English offerings to CBD

By Chu Meng

Page One, Singapore’s biggest bookseller and publisher, opened its flagship store in Beijing’s World Trade Center Tower 3 last Saturday.

In the week since, the store has carved out a niche as the city’s first and only bookstore dealing in quarterly English publications and Top 50 bestsellers from North America and Europe. It also boasts an impressive collection of books imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the printing industry continues to use traditional characters and prints books vertically from right to left.

Its initial stock of 150,000 books includes fiction titles as well as non-fiction books about life, economics and art. English books account for 75 percent of its stock, with the remainder being greater China imports.

Page One Beijing plans to synchronize its book launch dates with its overseas locations. However, a spokesman for the store said some releases may be delayed if book shipments become stuck in customs. To expedite approval, Page One has been cooperating with the state-owned China National Publications Import and Export Corporation.

“Our ground cooperation with the corporation guarantees us faster customs approval than any of our competitors in Beijing. Because we sell such a large quantity of books, our prices are comparatively low. Most books are sold for their cover price plus tariff with no additional markup,” said Liu Gui, CEO of Page One China.

Page One opened its first store in Singapore in 1983 and quickly became known for its comprehensive collection of art and design books. Since then, it has expanded to Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The first mainland store opened last June in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, but sold only Chinese books.

Design competition collects faces for Cable 8

By Zhang Dongya

Six projects from the US, Iran and China won the first Architects in Mission (AIM) international competition last Friday at Cable 8 Creative Center, the last factory in Beijing’s central business district (CBD).

The competition was held by ZNA, a Boston-based architecture and urban design firm aiming to collect ideas for the future development of the factory.

The first prize went to Iran architects Massoud Afsarmanesh and Ali Afsarmanesh, who designed a glass cover to place over the old space and function with it.

“They won the competition because their project was doable and practical. Their model was fluent, bright and eye-catching,” said Darren Chang, senior architect of ZNA.

“Since China is promoting large, landmark structures, their design was exactly the kind we need,” he said.

Other works like the third-prize winner “Civilian Gardens of a Big City,” submitted by Chinese competitors Wu Yang and Han Xili, placed rentable gardens in Cable 8 in an attempt to fuse rural agriculture and the urban balcony.

“We hope the awarded projects will get influence Cable 8’s decision makers when they consider making the transformation,” Chang said.

Similar folk creations and academic competitions have influenced the development decisions of other governments abroad, he said.

“We hope this could also happen in China, even if it is a long shot,” he said.

Cable 8 is located in the former Beijing Electric Wire and Cable Factory on Jianguo Road.

The factory complex, built in 1958, began its transformation into a culture and creative center three years ago.

Eight of its 20 buildings were redecorated. However, the architecture – typical of industrial buildings of the 1950s and 1970s – was left untouched. They have since become home to art galleries, design offices, photography studios, advertising agencies and clothing shops.

The juxtaposition of old and new elements in each design is intended to raise awareness of the country’s ties to its recent industrial past – a visual reminder of why it today enjoys prosperity.

Cable 8 appears on many industry tour lists in the city, but how it will further transformation is unclear.

“Actually using one of the designs will be difficult and complicated. It must balance the demands of the developers, architects and the government. Technology usually becomes secondary,” Chang said.

ZNA said they it would continue the competition next year with new topics on urban design. It is targeting college students who are majoring in architecture and young architects who have fewer than five years of work experience.

Beijing visa administration opens two new offices

Two Exit and Entry Certificate Reception Station have opened in the CBD and on Financial Street. Photo provided by Lin Song

By Han Manman

Beijing’s visa administration recently opened branches in the central business district (CBD) and on Financial Street to meet the needs of the city’s gring number of foreign workers.

The new visa offices were set up to serve the 10,000 companies in the financial and business zones, which include financial supervision authorities, financial institutions and foreign enterprises staffed by 300,000 Chinese and foreign employees, said Yu Hongyuan, deputy director general of the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB).

Yu said the Exit and Entry Certificate Reception Stations can only serve people working for enterprises registered with the CBD and Financial Street administration committees. Other foreigners still need to go to the Exit and Entry Administration’s headquarters in Andingmen, ongcheng District.

Services offered include visa processing and issuance of residence permits, as well as the registration of a corporation’s employees with Exit-Entry Permit to Hong Kong and Macau.
 
Foreigners working in the CBD and Financial Street can take care of these legalities at the Exit and Entry Certificate Reception Stations, which also provide translators for non-Chinese speakers, Yu said.

Processing normally takes one work day.

Before the two branches opened, only the Beijing Exit and Entry Administration headquarters could process visas and resident permits.

Yu said the PSB has plans to open additional visa offices in Zhongguancun, Yizhuang Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Exit and Entry Certificate Reception Station – Financial Stree
Address: Room 401, Unit 1, Building 2, 4 Jinchen International Apartment, Guangcheng Lu, Xicheng District
Open: Every Tuesday, 10 am – 3 pm

Exit and Entry Certificate Reception Station – CBD
Address: Room 1009, 10/F Jingguang Center Office Building, Hujialou, Chaoyang District
Open: Every Wednesday, 10 am – 3 pm

CBD expands east this year

 

CBD will expand 3 square kilometers to East Fourth Ring Road.

 

By Zhao Hongyi

The city is expanding its Central Business District (CBD) east for another 3 square kilometers. Construction will start at the end of this year, according to sources from the 10th Beijing International Business Festival held over the weekend in Beijing.

The expansion has been under discussion for years, as the existing 4-square-kilometer district is not even close to meeting the demand for offices and apartments. After years of debate about environmentally-friendly design, the construction is starting, and will last six to eight years.

When complete, the CBD will extend to East Fourth Ring Road. Total investment is expected to be 15 billion yuan and will create 100,000 new jobs.

“Luxury offices and apartments will occupy half of the total construction in the new area,” said Zhang Liwen, a spokesman for the BeijingBD Administrative Committee.

“Many plots in the new area have been sold to multinationals whch will set up their own business towers,” Zhang said. “We’ll also build a number of schools and hospitals for the residentialmmunities.”Insiders predict there will be three skyscrapers per block, each more than 300 meters tall.

Seven international companies have submitted designs for the expansion, and Zhang’s committee displaye the designs this week  to seek public comment. The results will be used to award the final contract, and are due this weekend.

Beijing’s CBD began construction in 1998 and has drawn 130 multinationals of the Fortne 500, 203 overseas financial agencies and 36 regional headquarters.

An area of 3.97 square kilometers will be kept for future development, according to the initiative. This area runs along the north of the expanded CBD to the Agricultural Exhibition Center.

Many festival visitors were enthusiastic about the designs, but organizers said each design requires more changes before construction can begin.

Wang Junqing, a visitor from one of the nearby residential communities, said he was more conscious about the prices of apartments in the area.

“Who would have imagined an area for heavy industry 20 years ago would become CBD today?”  he said. Wang retired om a liquefied gas factory in the area when it was moved out of Beijing five years ago.