The concrete structures of the 798 Art Zone in northeastern Beijing stem from the North China Radio Equipment Joint Factory built with help from East Germany in the 1950s.

The radio factory was not the only one pushed out of the city when the capital began a dramatic transformation in the 1990s. Many large, empty workshops and warehouses were left behind, forming the original basis for the art zone.

In 2001-02, teachers and students from the sculpting department at the Central Academy of Arts were among the first artists to move into the former factory warehouses.