Beijing’s known around the world for its contemporary art scene, and now our streets are giving rise to a different kind of art: graffiti. Taggers bearing cans of spraypaint have been busy marking up the capital. From huge cartoon dogs on the walls of construction sites on Chaoyangmenwai Dajie to droopy ghost figures next to the Sanlitun police station, Beijing’s graffiti identity is rapidly evolving and still very much illegal.

Graffiti can be seen on nearly every bridge on the Second Ring Road, and those temporary walls concealing construction and buildings slated for destruction. Often they are the hurried, uninspired results of trigger-happy taggers with one eye out for the cops. One, a “ZASTY” tag on the Second Ring Road, is in large, blue spray painted bubble letters. Though dull and lacking meaning, the idea that the artist was on foot incites a painful jealousy amongst viewers stuck in traffic.

The buildings in 798 and some street walls leading to the art zone have become a haven for practiced street artists, those just starting out, and everyone in between. From ornate, psychedelic name tags to simple chalk sketches of cats in suits, no wall in the art district is safe from rogue artists. One empty gallery space in the art zone remains worth walking past just to see gas mask-clad rat heads stenciled onto the exterior.

The hipster Gulou area is also a tagger target. Metal security fences that pull down over storefronts after-hours are adorned with skulls and crossbones, rabbits, and shapes that could be octopi, squid or jellyfish.

Graffiti artists tend to be secretive, preferring to maintain low profiles and letting their works speak for themselves. The graffiti artists we contacted were no different, all declining to be named here. However, one artist told us that it’s often hard to find a place in BJ to work where nobody’s watching, but the chance of getting caught is “part of the rush.”