The on-site visit during the Gallery Weekend Beijing Photo: Courtesy of Gallery Weekend Beijing

China's large-scale art expo Gallery Weekend Beijing came to a close on Sunday, with organizers noting an impressive increase in online participation amid the COVID-19 epidemic. 

Accord to a press release sent to Global Times on Thursday, the art expo, which was postponed from March to the end of May due to the COVID-19 outbreak, received more than 160,000 visits through Chinese streaming video app Kuaishou, while its videos on other Chinese sites earned a total of 1.5 million views in total. 

In addition to relying on third-party platforms, the event attended by 22 art organizations and galleries also launched its own phone app in the hope to reach a broader audience. 

"Although faced with challenges, we still managed to bring the event online, which helped us reach foreign guests and audiences who couldn't attend the on-site venue, " said Wang Yifei, the expo's director.