Supporters party for artist Ai Weiwei

A few hundred supporters of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei showed up at the site of his soon-to-be-razed studio in Shanghai in a peaceful demonstration.

The artist, who'd planned a party toprotest the studio's demolition,was under house arrest in Beijing, 650 kilometresaway.

The 53-old artist was put under arrest on Friday andsaid authorities told him hecouldn't leave until midnight Sunday, whenthe partywould beover.

"Many had been warned by local police not to come, but they still made the effort It is really amazing," Ai told the Guardian newspaper Sunday in an interview about the demonstration.

"Hopefully [the police] will learn from this that they cannot just use this old way to deal with new conditions."

Ai had originally been invited to design a new studio in the business district of the city, along with other artists.

However, the conceptual artist whose activism has gotten him in trouble in the past with Chinese officials and police was told in July that he didn't have the necessary permits for the building, something he's been working on for two years.

In protest, the artist said he was inviting anyone to a party at the studio space prior to its destruction.

In addition, he promised to serve river crabs, which in Chinese sounds like the government's catch phrase of "harmonious."It's a phrase critics use sarcastically tosuggest censorship.

Ai supporters began arriving Sunday morning with some plainclothes police keeping watch nearby. The crowd sang songs and ate crabs, while also lining up to buy books and posters of Ai.

"It was very touching to see such solidarity," the artist said. "I'm also surprised police didn't do anything [I think] they didn't want another incident because this is already bad enough for them."

Ai is an acclaimed artist who has installed projects around the world. His current piece involves 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds, which arelying on the floor at the Tate Modern gallery's famed Turbine Hall in London.