Party Pier is another excellent 'brownfield' project in Pazhou district. Others such as Art Port and Huangpu Creative Community are office-oriented, but Party Pier takes advantage of the waterfront views and lack of nearby residences to establish a bar and restaurant precinct. It also benefits greatly from having a single large industrial patron, unlike the more heterogenous other creative industrial parks in the area.
Party Pier was built by the Guangzhou Zhujiang Brewery Group - maker of Zhujiang Beer - but when built in the 1980s could the builders have envisaged that within a few decades this part of the brewery would be retrofitted to be used by trendy shops, restaurants, clubs and bars? Until fairly recently this would be unheard of; with developers preferring to demolish all traces of the industrial past and replace it with gleaming highrises. However, development planning in Pazhou has been far-sighted enough to retain and retrofit - rather than raze - many old industrial sites.
The huge multi-storey malt storage tanks alongside the cache have been retained and retrofitted, along with many other aspects of the site. In addition to restaurants and bars there are some fashion-oriented shops and galleries.
Walk around and explore the network of second and third floor walkways around Party Pier.