Our History
With woodland to the north and the Beijing city in its south, the Cloud House is located on Huantie Zhixian Section A No. 16 Courtyard Houyuan, Chaoyang District in Beijing, approximately 15 minutes by car from 798 Art District.
Built in 2007, the mansion is the former residence and art studio of Mr. Huang Rui, founder of the world-famous 798 Art District and an iconic Chinese artist whose name is inextricably linked to contemporary art in China. It is an artful blend of traditional Chinese elements, such as the Eight Trigrams from the I-Ching (易经), 300,000 hand-made bricks salvaged from dismantled Ming and Qing dynasties courtyards and wooden beams from the Palace of Prince Kung, and contemporary western design by Dutch architect, Neville Mars and Chinese architect, Bian Jing. For a decade until 2018, the Cloud House hosted many exhibitions, performances and other cultural activities, promoting cooperation between different art forms and cultures.
The Cloud House was at one point destined to be completely dismantled in order to clear the path for the construction of a high-speed railway line to the south of the property, had it not been for a collective effort to preserve it.
On 8th December 2017, Mr. Huang Rui donated the Cloud House to the local township government to be run as a public space. After visiting as part of his state visit to China in January 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, imploring to preserve the site due to its cultural and artistic significance.
But it was not until March 2021, after Dr. Jonathan K.S. Choi made a substantial commitment to renovate the space, that the government entrusted this legendary mansion to the Jonathan K.S. Choi Foundation to operate as an international cultural centre.
