The World's New Culture Meccas

Unfortunately, many local residents worry that the government may be ruining Zhongguancun's creative chaos and boosting property values to levels that price out struggling young talent. Says Xu, "The people coming here to plant the trees are fewer, but the people coming here to pick fruit are more and more." But the entrepreneurs have no plans to move elsewhere. Liu Zheng, the young owner of an Internet software company, says, "The creative people stay here because they all have hope"--hope that the planters will continue to outstrip the pickers.

Sarah Schafer

Antwerp, Belgium: Beyond Fashion

Haider Ackerman used to toil at one of those typical starving-artist jobs. He spent his weekends outside a nightclub restroom collecting 50 cents from each patron. Now the 31-year-old fashion designer is one of the hottest names in Antwerp. Last season his first collection was a hit in Paris. Now he's selling clothes at boutiques like Colette in Paris, Louis in Antwerp and Corso Como in Milan, and has been asked to head up design for the esteemed Italian leather label Ruffo Research.

Ackerman joins a growing roster of Antwerp-based designers--including Veronique Branquinho, Raf Simons and Wim Neels--who are enjoying international success with their labels. It all started in the late 1980s when the so-called Antwerp Six, all graduates of the now famed Royal Academy of Fine Arts, stormed through London with their avant-garde "deconstructed" designs that featured frayed edges and exposed seams.

Since then, the city's fashion scene has only continued to blossom. What's new today is that the phenomenon is spreading to other industries. The cafes along the Scheldt River are abuzz with filmmakers, photographers and graphic designers, all talking about their latest projects. Walter Van Beirendonck, one of the Antwerp Six, has started a funky new fashion magazine, which is renamed each season after the next letter of the alphabet. Tom Barman, lead singer of Antwerp-based rock band Deus, is shooting a film here with each character dressed by a Belgian designer. A handful of trendy bars have sprung up in the once desolate docklands to the north, music promoters are taking over enormous warehouses for weekend gigs and the Royal Ballet of Flanders has moved into the neighborhood.