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In addition to traditional tourist attractions like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, Beijing Design Week proved to be a hot spot that drew huge crowds during the recent National Day holiday.

"Don't add to the traffic on the highway. Stay in Beijing to see the designs," became a popular slogan among netizens. Held from September 28 through October 6, the nine-day event comprised about 200 exhibitions, forums and lectures at over 150 locations in Beijing, such as the 798 Art District, 751 D-Park, Dashilar Alley, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

On Saturday, the second Beijing Design Week successfully closed its curtains with total visitors exceeding 5 million and a transaction volume that reached 5.6 billion yuan ($890 million). On top of the numbers, organizers are encouraged by the potential impact of the event's new platform for design studios, independent designers and enterprises to engage in trade with each other and members of the public.

Mixing modernity with tradition

Throughout the event, it was clear that the organizers embraced a concept of design that combines modern, edgy art with the more old-world traditions to be found in Beijing.

In Dashilar Alley, modern artistic designs were mixed with Beijing's old hutong, traditional alley neighborhoods. Displayed amid picturesque old buildings, works from 48 domestic and foreign designers blended contemporary art with mainstays of Chinese culture. A giant light installation was made out of a collection of the city's ubiquitous ceramic jars used for Beijing "old yogurt," and a map of China was created from eggshells.

Yangmeizhu Street was filled with video and sound equipment to create a "time-travel path" showing the history and changes of Dashilar over time. The diverse designs, including a guidance system and an app for visitors to download, offered new possibilities for the preservation and development of Beijing's traditional hutong and siheyuan, courtyard houses, in the face of growing modernization of cities.