Xinchejian (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

: 新车间;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: xīn chē jiān) is the first

hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sci ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It was founded in 2010 by David Li, Ricky Ng-Adam, and Min Lin Hsieh in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, inspired by hackerspaces in the West and the Shanzhai culture of China. Xinchejian is registered as a company, but is run as a non-profit organization, and managed by volunteers.

Mission

According to Xinchejian's about page, "Xīnchējiān is a non-profit organization, its mission is to support, create and promote physical computing, open source hardware and Internet of Things... Our long-term goal is to spread the concept and philosophy across China and inspire Hackerspaces in every large city from east to west." Xinjechian has been noted as China's first hackerspace, and as a place for innovation and collaboration, in a country also known for its strong internet censorship.

Membership

Xinchejian encourages people to become a member and contribute to the maker community in Shanghai. Non-members are welcome on Wednesday nights at the open night talks, and are encouraged to participate in workshops. Workshops for learning skills, such as

Arduino Arduino () is an Italian open-source hardware and open-source software, software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardwar ...

, and simple projects often have a cost to cover the instructor and materials. Membership costs 100 RMB per month (~16 USD). Xinchejian is loosely managed by its unpaid volunteer staff members.

Projects

Xinchejian members have been involved numerous hobby, commercial, and artistic projects. A Xinchejian team won second place in the roaming category in a $10 USD Robot Design Challenge from the African Robotics Network.

Community Participation

Xinchejian members are involved in numerous events, including regional maker events such as

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by '' Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. Hist ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

and the Maker Carnival in Shanghai. Xinchejian hopes to contribute to the founding of hackerspaces throughout China.

Media Coverage

Xinchejian has been covered by international media for a myriad of projects involving their membership. * The Wall Street Journal
In China, Lessons of a 'Hackerspace'
* Wired
These $10 Robots Will Change Robotics Education
* Bloomberg
China's Maker Movement Gets Government Support for DIY Workshops
* Hackday:
Intro to Xinchejian in Shanghai

Physical Space

In December 2020, Xinchejian moved into a larger space at Huide Mansion, in Huangpu district of

. The current space has a

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tool (machining), cutting tools to make parts, usua ...

, areas for

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

Laser cutting Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...

, electronics, and desks for laptop work and socializing. Xinchejian has had a physical location since 2011. In 2014, Xinchejian moved into the People Squared Co-working space at 28 Yuyuan East Road, in

Jing'an District Jing'an District () is one of the central districts of Shanghai. In 2020, it had 975,707 inhabitants in an area of . The district borders the Hongkou, Shanghai, Hongkou to the east, Huangpu, Shanghai, Huangpu to the east and south, Putuo, Shangh ...

. This space had a

, areas for

, electronics, and desks for laptop work and socializing.

References

External links

Xinchejian.com

Hackerspaces.org/xinchejian
{{Hackerspace DIY culture Hackerspaces Computer clubs Hacker culture Non-profit organizations based in China