For years the image of Wujiaochang in the city's northeast Yangpu District was closely connected with three key words - heavy industry, universities and old-buildings.The traditional Chinese style of the former city government building has made it an interesting heritage destination, while local street vendors have brought vitality to the area.A new art compound, Wujiaochang 800 Art Space, at the junction of Guoshun Road E., and Shuangyang Road N., also promises to add another new dimension to the area.Situated in a former textile factory warehouse, the renovated space houses a cluster of art galleries, theaters, bookshops, restaurants and bars.Art galleries take up 80 percent of the space. Covering an area of 21,460 square meters, the building has five floors with 4.5-meter-high ceilings. The big exhibition areas enable galleries to display large-scale paintings, sculpture and installations. The new art compound also offers a comprehensive range of art-related facilities.Since its opening early last year, more than 35 art galleries from various countries including Switzerland, France, America and China have opened up facilities. Famous art organizations including ShanghART Gallery, ShiNE Art Space, Bluephoenix New Media Arts and 5000 Year Fine Art Gallery are at the art center.There is a strong presence of Taiwan-based galleries, probably due to the art center's management company president and chief executive officer coming from Taiwan.From King Space to Bluephoenix New Media Arts, Taiwan-based artists exhibit a diversified range of creative art works to local art enthusiasts and dealers.One of these Taiwan-based galleries is King Space, which aims to promote Taiwan-based artists to the Chinese mainland market. Gallery owner Lu Hongjun said the gallery tried to help struggling young graduates from arts school.The gallery in Shanghai will strengthen relationships with other international galleries and will boost the number of artist exchanges between Taiwan and mainland.The Bluephoenix New Media Arts is another gallery supporting young artists who specialize in interactive art works presented via digital media. The art center's founder, Lin Junting, is strongly interested in Chinese traditional esthetics. He lists Chinese elements such as the orchid, butterfly, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese ink-water painting as some of his inspirations.As an experienced art dealer, president Hong Pingtao has worked in the art market for almost 30 years. He said that he expects Art 800 to become a new base for artists in Taiwan who want to test the waters on the mainland.The explosion of the contemporary art scene in China has encouraged the emergence of a number of new galleries and art compounds.The 798 Art Zone in Beijing, the art complex on Moganshan Road and the Yangshupu Creative Zone are now familiar names in the art market.There are many art centers in Shanghai now holding numerous art exhibitions. Some people have commented that the Wujiaochang 800 Art Space is too far away, while some of the galleries there have more easily accessible operations in the center of the city, like at Moganshan Road."The art center just simply stands there by itself, with no other art venues around to form an artistic area," said Simon Lu, a young sculptor."I believe that a friendly and convenient artistic environment is vital for a gallery's development."But Hong disagreed, saying the proximity of major education facilities was a reason for choosing the location. "The surrounding first-class universities add value to this location," Hong said."An intellectual and artistic environment is important to the development of an art compound."An initial transport problem has been solved by the newly established Metro line station near the art center. Although Wujiaochang is a long way from the city center, it has held a number of successful exhibitions that have been well supported."I went there a few times for friends' exhibitions and liked the building itself, in addition to the exhibitions," said art school student Lisa Liu."It has an interesting internal design, especially with the old-fashioned stone stairs."