Festival returns with a flourish

A visitor reads next to a wall filled with graffiti.

The flowing colors of 798 art district

798 Art Zone's annual event promises a stunning visual show. Geng Feifei reports in Beijing.

The 2013 Beijing 798 Art Festival kicked off at the 798 Art Zone in Beijing on Sept 21 and will run through Oct 20.

With the theme "Imagination and Coexistence", the festival features nearly 100 events, including theme exhibition series, union exhibition series and an outdoor sculpture invitational exhibition.

Highlighting the crossover of different art forms such as painting, sculpture, dancing and music, the festival is expected to offer a spectacular visual experience for art fans during the National Day holiday.

Covering an area of 230,000 square meters, the 798 Art Zone, originally an unused factory built by East Germany during the Cold War, was transformed into a landmark of contemporary art in the 1990s, when poor artists and small galleries began to gather at the factory site.

Home to more than 400 galleries, studios, restaurants and bars, the art zone has developed into a cultural and innovative industry center.

In 2003, the 798 Art Zone was named by Time magazine as one of the top cultural landmarks in the world.