The Fledging Chinese Contemporary Art booming in the world’s art circle started appealing to eyeballs, since late 1990s, of some domestic personnel. Therefore there were three museums of contemporary art appeared on the horizon: respectively Teda Museum, sponsored by Ma Huidong, president of Teda Property Management Inc and Mr. Liao Wen being the curator.; The Upriver Museum invested by House Management Inc. and sponsored by the president of the same company who is also the curator; Dongyu Gallery in Shenyang sponsored by Mr. Zhuang Yuyang, Chairman of Dongyu Inc., Mr. Sun Jinzhong and the curator was Mr. Wang Yigang, an artist. Collections of all three museums were unexceptionally from such rising stars of contemporary art like: Zhang Shaogang, Fang Lijun, Yue Minjun, Wang Guangyi, Liu Xiaodong, Liu Wei, Zhou Chunya, Song Yonghong, Wang Jinsong, Zeng Fanzhi, Liu Ye, Yang Shaobin, Zeng Hao. The Dongyu Museum, in particular, collected Video and Device Works by Wang Jianwei, Li Yongbin and Zhu Jia, an unprecedented deed in the history of contemporary art museums.During the infancy period of the museums, series of special showcase was designed by critics Liao Wen, Huang Zhuan and artist Zhang Xiaogang in Teda and Upriver. Consequently, the artists of contemporary arts whirlwinding among the museums in cities of Shenyang, Chengdu and Tianjin, the opening ceremonies were made into galas, the clicking of glasses of wines accompanied by laughter, what a scenario of prosperity. However, such vigor was short-lived , by the beginning of year 2000, both Dongyu and Upriver closed and Teda in dormancy. Such depression was caused jointly by immatured art market in China, poor management and the vacancy of relevant government policies. The fading-out of the museums marked the doldrums of private art galleries. At the time, the only spotlight was the Chengdu Biannual Exhibition, sponsored by Deng Hong, a real estate developer, yet under the name of Cheng Du Contemporary Art Gallery, it was actually a platform of business activities.Since mid-2000, the involvement of Euro-American Art World in Chinese contemporary art stimulated the art again. Guandian and Huachen Auctions started to work on Chinese contemporary art, and in addition, Mr. Dong Mengyang, an previous artist, started the new mode of Exposition on International Art. Under such circumstances, the private art market became active again which is definitely related to the stimulation of Euro-American art market. The period witnessed the birth of Duolun Art Gallery and Zhengda Art Gallery by Shen Qibin, a used-to-be artist; He Xiangning Art Gallery run by Lao Zhengwei, who used to manage art activities; Sifang Art Gallery, run by Li Xaoshan, a famous art critic and again the Teda Art Gallery re-sponsored by Ma Huidong. Zhang Zikang, once an professional editor, operated the Today Art Gallery so well that it has become an exclusive site for both individual and collective displays. Meanwhile two government owned galleries in Guangdong and Shanghai modeling on International Biannual Expos started to make contemporary art works their hit. 2006-2007 see the thriving of Chinese contemporary art in the international market. The high price of Chinese contemporary art works under the hammer of some internationally renown auction houses stirred up the amazement of international and domestic circles and the media.Inn 2005, just a year before the climax of Chinese contemporary art in the international market, Mr. Li Bing, founder of the Harmony and Tranquility Tea House, who was also an artist himself, bought all the collections of Dongyu Art Gallery. Among the collections are works that later hit the high price as aforementioned. It should have been a great opportunity for business, yet Li Bing told me in the spring of 2006 on a home visit: He was going to keep them and to hold a special exhibition of the existing collection and their works in the coming decade on comparative terms. He also asked me to write for promotion. I was involved in the planning of the Song Zhuang Park of Artists, and construction of which is, right now, drawing to the end. There will be plenty of space for private artists including galleries and studio. So I asked him if he’d have a space for an exhibition facility and I got his commitment. With that he and his wife immediately draw back all the capital which they originally planned to invested in a high-end pub in Beijing. In the following few months, we have been communicating regularly on the design and construction of the facility and by the end of 2006, the project was inaugurated. In the process of a full year, Li Bing has been personally operating all the details of the project, whether it be internal design or construction supervision; whether solving technical problems or a lawsuit with the construction team. It must have been an exhausting experience, yet the reward is a modern facility, “The HE Art Museum , the biggest of its kind around the Park of Artists. Designed by well-known architects, the museum occupies a total land area of 32,00 square meters with an investment of over ten million RMB. It will function both for long time and short term exhibitions. The collections from Dongyu will be long time exhibits and will be opened free to public. The profound meaning of such initiative is that collection will no longer be the private property of individual, but the shared legacy of all. The collection serves as the benchmark of HE Museum’s fundamental stand as a promoter of contemporary art, therefore all exhibits include, as mentioned earlier, the collections from a decade ago and collections of the same artists a decade later, moreover, the museum also pick some works by young artist selectively which demonstrates the determination of the owner of the HE Museum to illustrate to public the trace of change during the ten years and to market the young artists.A dream made ten years ago; a reap made ten years later. Such poetic lines illustrate that the number “ten” has a special implication to the Chinese people in that it represents the concept of a time cycle, thus there are numerous idioms in Chinese containing the number like “ten years to sharpen the sword” “ten years of tedious schooling” or “gentlemen’s revenge will never be too late even in ten years” and so on.. The heading of this passage “ Awakening from a Ten Year Long Sleep” reveals complicated emotion that is even beyond expression of language. The decade long history of contemporary Chinese art was started quite unexpectedly, and has gone through a dreamlike decade. Once we realize soberly its very existence, we have a complicated feeling as how to evaluate it. From the pursuits of the poor artist to the way of life of the affluent; from a few hundreds US dollars to millions of US dollars per piece under the hammer of auctioneers. The wax and wane can only be felt by the artists themselves. Its popularity now has disguised the hardship that the artists used to experience at the very beginning. If it would be the likes of westerners, nobody would distinguish the difference of “to be liked” and “to suit the likes”. People will take it for granted that it is popular and are indifference to the contributions behind such popularity. To be blamed as “post colonialism” who cares the hardship both physically and psychologically endured by the pioneer of Chinese contemporary art. Nobody can perceive the feelings of such artists as Zhang Shaogang, Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, Liu Xiaodong and Wang Guangyi whether contemporary art is in its climax or down to the valley. All real feelings have been blurred and remote through the ten years. The ancient poet Du Mu’s self-mockery on the reputation he had reaped after ten years of arduous work can be comparable to mine not in form yet in nature.The ten years coincide my personal experience of depression. During the decades of grinding of Chinese contemporary art, I have been twice laid off by public organizations, however my persistence in art overwhelmed my stressfulness. Conversely, when contemporary art revives today I began to doubt the criterion by which to re-evaluate contemporary art. In another word, the contemporary art has abruptly been globalized from its original state of confinement and such a transformation impose a more difficult situation as for where to go next than struggling for existence ten years ago. And it is more frustrating to handle than being condemned or mocked. The definition for contemporary art will not be broadly applicable to: everyone who’s got a footing in the art circle right now or narrowed down to: the few who’s up to the norm of the western contemporary art. The western art history has gone through classical, modern and contemporary stages (although the perception of contemporary art is still debatable). The Chinese art history is obviously more complex and more chaotic. As symbol of classical Chinese paintings, the portraits makers have never adopted the western ways of perspective and anatomy, contrarily they resemble modern art in the west in subjective expressiveness. During half a century from the 20s to the 70s of the last century, the mainstream art mode in China being the imitation of methods of perspective and anatomy developed in the west since Renaissance. Since the 70s, the Chinese contemporary artist have rehearsed on all methods of art creation by the western artists since the birth of modern art. From the angle of expressiveness, Chinese contemporary art carries on three traditions, respectively classical Chinese art, western classical oil painting and western modern and contemporary art. Therefore the Chinese contemporary art not only differs the west in cultural background, not also in application of expressiveness. Further more any schools of Chinese art may be taken as possible contemporary art regardless of from what tradition it was developed. The key lies in the shift of cultural attitude, personal feeling.The term contemporary art was made up as contrast to modern art, just like modernism is made as a contrast to classical art. Each stage of western art bears striking features in its expressiveness. However Chinese art based on thousand years of calligraphy has no fundamental change in its expressiveness. If we take the period from the 20s to the 70 of the last century as the modern art era in China, can we compare Chinese modernism, which imitated western classical art, with the norm carried out by western modernism? Similarly, the contemporary art in China based on the mentioned three traditions shouldn’t be evaluated only by the western norm of expressiveness, or it will be inadequate. In Chinese art history and tradition, there has never been comparable systematic, logical and innovative practice as the west. It stress on natural feeling like in poetry with its slow flow of linguistic mode instead of caring about innovation. Expressiveness seems to be laid aside by Chinese intellectuals, likewise, the contemporary artists seem suspending the stereotype expressiveness that has been practiced by modern art, contemporary art, Chinese classical art and the western classical oil painting. What they care more is the feelings they harbor whether it be the inspiration from the community or the politics. If such a mentality has something to do with the traditional “happy medium” philosophy of China or it relates to the deep rooted national character is a question the answers of which remains to be explored. The root of the word “contemporary” means “time” in Latin, in another word, contemporary art means artists’ reflection on the environment of their existence and their concerns about the environment. From that perspective, Chinese contemporary art shouldn’t follow the rules set by its western counterpart. What I want to say is contemporary art is a word made up by the westerners base on their own history of art development which may not be applicable to evaluate and criticize Chinese contemporary art. How artists express their specific feelings is more important than whether it is contemporary art in its form. Robert, a Hollywood director said to me: the whole world is crazy about Chinese contemporary art and American critic Barbara Bollock said to me: everybody says that Chinese contemporary art is hot, yet I only see commercialized art. In the year 2008 Guggenhaim Art Gallery in USA is going to host the personal exhibition of Cai Guoqiang, a Chinese contemporary artist. If it were ten years ago, such a news would drive people crazy, however I don’t get excited anymore after awakened from a ten years long sleep. My eagerness to internationalize Chinese contemporary art has disappeared instead I focus more on self satisfaction instead of the understanding we obtain from other cultures. Awakened from a ten years long sleep, I find myself no longer crazy about the undertaking but care more about the real happenings around me. I am immersed only in my internal feeling somewhere between dream and awake, therefore art is something that only belong to yourself.