The contemporary art infrastructure in China is nascent and undeveloped at best, and artists from the UK and elsewhere should not come to China looking for a system of support or institutional practices similar to what exists in their own countries.

Rather, they should expect to have to work in China entirely independently, as intrepid students of all things related to Chinese ancient and contemporary culture.

Chinese language skills and/or a good interpreter will be necessary in nearly all meetings and transactions. Local English speakers are the exceptions rather than the rule, and even when people first appear conversational, you will quickly discover that art vocabulary and related discussions in English are quite limited.

The art community in China (like that of most developing countries) is loosely knit at best, albeit quickly expanding in myriad directions. And will appear at first glance to be in a constant state of flux amidst rapid developments and lack of readily accessible news and information. As a result, most China contemporary art Guide Books and so-called "First Hand Accounts" are woefully out of date almost immediately upon publication! And should not be considered anything more definitive than one individual's typically highly subjective viewpoint and experience amidst a rapidly evolving Chinese art scene.

With these caveats in mind, China, and especially Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xiamen do indeed possess thriving local art scenes. The Mainland Chinese contemporary art scene is best defined by a multiplicity of regional activities; meaning the Beijing scene differs widely from the Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen or Chengdu scene. And local arts workers don't often look beyond their own provincial and local interests, except when time rolls around for another well-established biennale or triennale in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, or Nanjing. These are the most important contemporary art related events. Art fairs in Beijing and Shanghai, (as well as smaller fairs in Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other cities), are starting to attract more national attention, and serving as regional hubs and meeting places. Local art auction houses in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai are quickly expanding beyond their traditional antiquities sales and collectors, and expanding 20th century and contemporary sales, with high priced auction results attracting much media attention.

For the most part, art schools serve as the main hubs for artistic exchange, exhibitions and conversations. And visiting artists should make a point to visit these campuses and campus museums.

The Mainland China art education system revolves around five to seven elite "academy des beaux arts" universities offering under-graduate and graduate degrees in fine art training including oil painting, print-making, photography and design, architecture, film-making, traditional Chinese fine arts and art history. Recently added courses include curatorial practice, new media studies, industrial, graphic and fashion design. Visiting foreign scholars and curators are invited to lecture and exhibit at most of these academies.

The universities widely considered to offer the best art degrees in China are the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) (中央ç¾?æ?¯å­¦é?¢) in Beijing; the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, (æ¸?å?大学－è?ºæ?¯ä¸?ç§?å­¦ç ?究中å¿?), Beijing; the China Academy of Art (中å?½ç¾?æ?¯å­¦é?¢)in Hangzhou; the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute ((å??川ç¾?æ?¯å­¦é?¢)) in Chongqing; the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) (广å·?ç¾?æ?¯å­¦é?¢); in Guangzhou; the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts (鲁è¿?ç¾?æ?¯å­¦é?¢) in Shenyang. In addition, there are many other fine university art curriculums in major cities including Shanghai, Kunming, Nanjing, Xian, Xiamen, Wuhan, and other cities and regions in China.

All of these universities launched major construction and expansion campaigns over the last few years, with state of the art equipment and facilities, including the establishment of new media departments; new museums such as the 5000 square meter museum at Beijing's CAFA designed by reknowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki; and, newly constructed studio space, dormitories and apartments. However, tuition is no longer cheap. And except in rare cases, no money is available from the Chinese side for grants, scholarships or subsidies for foreign students.

In short, public money in China is typically available today for "hardware" such as the construction of new art related facilities and buildings. However, "software" including tuition fees, exhibitions, museum management, and the like, are no longer state-subsidized and as a result individuals and exhibit programming must self-finance and/or find sponsors.

This transitional system of semi-privatization of the official art scene in China leaves most art institutions chronically under-funded, albeit with ironically ambitious programmes needed to fill the newly constructed facilities. Don't be surprised by this contradiction and be sure to pay close attention to which organizations are supporting and sponsoring art exhibits in China. You will quickly note that most of these monies are currently coming from the private sector in China and/or over-seas funding, with very little coming from China's state sectors.

Most of China's art universities do accept - and welcome - foreign students despite the fact that scholarships or grants are unavailable on the Chinese-side and are expected to come entirely from the foreign side. Tuition fees, accommodations and the like however are not cheap; expect rising costs propped up by an influx of students from non-Western, neighboring Asian countries, who are mostly ready and able to pay high tuition, room and board fees in China.

Increasingly, Chinese language courses are required including the passing of a minimum language proficiency exam in order to move up to higher-level course work.  Foreign student language proficiency policies change from year to year, and should be confirmed prior to committing to study in China. Foreign art students are typically frustrated with the lack of attention and individual support from professors and university administrators in China.  Only the most self-motivated and independently minded students should take the art-school-in-China route.

Part of the pleasure of being on a Chinese art school campus is getting to know first-hand local artists and art students. Of course, not all of China's talented artists graduated from one of these elite "academies des beaux arts". Many are self-taught with little to no university education. Some are coming out of factory jobs or other non-art related backgrounds. Others majored in related subjects such as theatre, music, film, architecture, philosophy, and following graduation, crossed over to a full-time art practice, mainly by self-education and/or private lessons.

As for off-campus issues related to an artist's practice in China, copyright abuse or infringement, for example, is widespread. With the biggest problems coming from on-line art sites, and art and fashion magazines. All of which publications download and reprint images from the Web, with little regard for international copyright and attribution standards. These practices have not slowed down China's booming media markets, as readership and advertising revenue keeps growing, and overseas media clamours to be the first to get a Chinese language version to market here as quickly as possible.

Similarly, many young artists practice mimicking famous international artworks under the guise of "post-modern appropriations". To-date there is little legal recourse beyond starting a lengthy and expensive litigation in China, litigation that despite the existence of precedent cases is unlikely to have a happy outcome in China. Unless you are a multinational corporation with a readily available team of intellectual property lawyers, I suggest that an individual artist coming to China consider imitation as the highest form of flattery.

What are the advantages of working and visiting China as a non-Chinese visiting artist? There are many. First being the up-close exposure to a historically rich, diverse and thriving local art scene. Other more pragmatic advantages include relatively inexpensive studio space, living accommodations, art supplies and materials, print and photography studios.

Article by Meg Maggio

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