Created in 2004, the Dashanzi International Art Festival (DIAF) is a large-scale event held in the Dashanzi Art District in Beijing, and a combined effort of the DIAF organizing committee along with the various artistic initiatives around the district. Every year in spring, for three weeks, the DIAF stages a lively dialogue between citizens and contemporary culture through a wide range of events: visual art, live music, dance, theater, performance art, design presentations and film projections. The festival upgrades Dashanzi to a multidisciplinary platform. The Dashanzi Art District, located in an old Bauhaus-style complex, has been continuously on the cutting edge of new trends in Beijing. The place has become a "Soho-esque" area that both inspires and reflects a new lifestyle in China. In Dashanzi, contemporary art is accessible for a large and diverse public. "Light.Sound/Time" (Guangyin/Guangyin) was the theme of DIAF2004, that focussed on the possible relations between the audio and the visual, and explored the ongoing dialogue between past, present and future. During the four weeks of the festival, there were 80 000 visitors. "Language/Fable"(Yuyan/Yuyi), the theme of DIAF2005, explored the richness of language, showing how different languages are used, imagined and magnified by artists or simply by the body of art works. For these 3 weeks, there were about 100 000 visitors. These two festivals received significant media attention, with over 100 reports every year. DIAF has become an integral contemporary art event, filling a gap in Beijing’s cultural landscape.