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Outer spaces

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In Caochangdi village on the northeastern outskirts of Beijing, the countryside collides head on with the mainland's booming, bohemian art world. Farmers still steer three-wheeled trucks loaded with watermelons down the dusty streets. But now they are joined by sleek SUVs driven by art collectors in search of the galleries and artists' studios that have sprung up in the area over the last couple of years.

'The farmers think we're all rich now,' says Lu Zhengyuan. 'They see how the area is changing and some of them have started renting out their homes to artists.'

Sitting in his vast studio with its high ceilings, surrounded by the provocative, nude fibreglass sculptures that are his trademark, 27-year-old Lu is just one of the increasing numbers of artists who have set up in Caochangdi.

Its emergence as an artists' colony is hastening the decline of Dashanzi - home to the 798 Art District - as the hub of the mainland's contemporary art scene. A concerted effort by the local government in recent years to establish 798 as a cultural centre has turned Dashanzi into a premier tourist destination in the capital. Coupled with rising rents, it has resulted in an exodus of artists to Caochangdi and other areas on Beijing's northern fringes.

'A studio should be a peaceful, quiet place to work and that's hard to do in 798 because there are so many people there,' says Wang Ningde, a photographer whose stark black and white portraits sell for up to US$15,000.

'A friend introduced me to Caochangdi and I liked it straight away. The rent is cheaper than 798 and it's a real community of artists here. 798 is still a gallery district, I guess, but it's not a place for artists.'

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