Dafen Oil Painting Village

Dafen began in 1989 when a Hong Kong dealer brought a handful of painters to this village to produce replica oil paintings for export, and it grew into an industry: at its height thousands of painters worked here, many trained in a single artist or a single part of a canvas, turning out copies of Van Gogh, Monet and Da Vinci for hotels and furniture chains worldwide in numbers that were said to account for a large share of global replica production. Export demand fell after 2008 and again with online competition, and the village has shifted toward original work, custom portraits and galleries, though the copying workshops remain and painters can be watched at work in the lanes.

What you actually see

• The painting workshops - artists at work in open studios along the lanes.
• The replica trade - copies of famous paintings stacked and drying.
• The galleries - original work by resident artists.
• The custom portrait shops - commissions painted from photographs.

When to go

October to April for comfortable weather; the village works year-round on weekdays, when the studios are busiest. Weekends bring more visitors and fewer painters at work.

Honest expectations

The village is smaller and quieter than at its peak, and some visitors expect a more dramatic scene. Painters are working and being watched constantly, which is intrusive. Quality ranges from skilled to crude.

Nearby

Shenzhen's centre lies west; Dapeng Fortress is far east on the peninsula.