Artist Ren Hui, with his baby son Ren Qi on shoulders, smiles in front of a recent work -- a portrait of his son -- in the yard of their home in Xiaopu Village of the Tongzhou Artists' Community. Photographer: Xu Jingxing.

Drive 20 minutes eastward from downtown Beijing's Jianguomen and you enter another world - a pastoral "colony" of art under the roof of a cosmopolis.

In the suburban district of Tongzhou, formerly known as Tongxian County, more than 200 artists from throughout China, mostly emigrants from outside Beijing, seek to find their true selves and new inspirations.

Here, they rent or buy homes and studios in countryside villages or urban apartment buildings.

MA ZIHENG, Opera Figures, 1999, oil on canvas, 110 x 130 cm. Here, they plant vegetables and fruit trees in their yards where they drink tea with friends and guests, enjoying the sunshine. Here, they find themselves in such a harmony with local villagers that people from outside sometimes can hardly tell them from their native neighbours. Yet, here, they manage to maintain links with contemporary world art galas such as the Venice Biennial and have their artwork purchased by collectors from Paris, London, New York and Hong Kong. Most of them are young (in their 20s, 30s and 40s), emerging, independent artists involved in contemporary art forms such as painting, installation, video and performance.

YIN KUN, Checking a Bank Note, 1999, oil on canvas, 192 x 135 cm.

Adding vigour and passion to the Chinese contemporary art scene, they are formulating a so-called "Tongzhou Artists' Community" that has attracted national and international attention.

Without radical declarations, crazy behaviour, or chaotic assemblies, artists here are viewed as normal individuals, rather than oddballs or extremists as they are often presumed to be.

"I was immediately attracted by the place and decided to move in when I made my first visit here in 1994. No doubt, life here is desirable for me: casual, peaceful, inexpensive, and full of opportunities," said Ren Hui, 41, from Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province.

Ren is one of the 30 or so emigrant artists now living in Xiaopu Village of Songzhuang Township in Tongzhou, the earliest and most well-known village to attract artists in the community.
At first glance, Ren would most likely impress people as a laborious farmer from the south: high cheekbones, sunken eyes, wrinkled forehead, simple dress, and a frank smile.