Huashan 1914 Creative Park

The complex began in 1914 as a distillery and later a winery, producing spirits and rice wine until production moved out in the late 1980s. The site then sat derelict, was occupied by artists, and was eventually kept rather than demolished, which is why a block of low red brick and concrete industrial buildings survives in the middle of an expensive part of the city. The old fermentation halls, the boiler house and the chimney are now galleries, a small cinema, a live music venue, workshops and shops. Grass and trees fill the gaps between the buildings, and the whole site is free to wander through whether or not you buy a ticket for anything.

What you actually see

• The winery halls - brick and reinforced concrete buildings kept in industrial condition.
• The chimney and boiler house - the plant that ran the distillery, left in place.
• The exhibition spaces - ticketed shows that change every few weeks.
• The lawns - open ground between the buildings where people sit in the evening.

When to go

Open all year and mostly under cover, which makes it a reasonable rainy-afternoon option in a city that has a great many of them. Weekday mornings are close to empty. Weekends bring markets, buskers and families, and queues for anything popular can be long. Check what is actually showing before committing to a ticket.

Honest expectations

It is a shopping and cafe destination as much as an arts one, and several buildings are given over to retail that could be anywhere. Ticketed exhibitions are often commercial touring shows with high prices and heavy branding. If you only walk the grounds it costs nothing and takes half an hour, which is the right expectation to arrive with.

Nearby

The Guanghua electronics market is a few streets away and Shandao Temple is within walking distance.