Central Districts

Lined with large English style homes, another cultural street in Tianjin.

Running north-south a couple of streets back from the River Hai, this street is where colonial banks built their branches in Tianjin during the treaty-port era and will definitely be of interest to those interested in colonial architecture or history. Many of the buildings have been retained and are well-preserved, giving the street a distinctly European feel. No longer the central business district, it isn't a very busy street, with noticeably less car and pedestrian traffic than other parts of the city, making it a good place to spend a couple of hours wandering. Most of the buildings now house local Chinese banks so feel free to have a look inside (though staff may object to photography) at the interiors, many of which feature original wooden panelling and stained glass. Also on the street is the 'Chinese Museuum of Finance' which is home to several interesting financial artifacts, including the only share certificate in existence featuring a picture of Mao Zedong.

Tianjin Italian Town is the former Italian Concession that was built in 1902. It covers the area from Coast area to the Victory Road. Across the river from Italian Town lies the Ancient Culture Street, Peace Shopping and Pedestrian Street, Tianjin Financial Road, Little White CBD (小白楼) and Tianjin Municipal Government. Owning the unique location, the Italian Town is merged with different cultures. Here you can find the celebrities’ residences, chic bars, international restaurants, western art deco, etc. Among those buildings, the most famous are Liang Qichao’s Yinbin Room, Residence of Feng Guozhang, Residence of Cao Yu, Residence of Hua Shikui, First Worker Cultural Palace and Italian Military Camp. The center of the town is the Marco Polo Plaza. The layout of the street is shaped like a chess board. Both sides of the street are decorated with lamp lights and green trees. In addition, the well preserved fences and other ancient buildings make the town full of Italian aroma. The Free Path is the only pedestrian street in the Italian Town and most of the buildings are restaurants and bars which attracts many tourists. Most restaurateurs are from Apennines Peninsula. Here one can not only taste the real pizza, Italian pasta and other Italian aperitives, besides, he can also enjoy the Italian performances and other Italian clothes and handicraft exhibitions. There are 24-hour bars, cafés, restaurants, art museum and cinemas, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Street not only lined with shops and cafes but also with interesting architecture, including lots of copies of Qing Dynasty buildings. Some of the most interesting buildings are Tianhou Palace (天后宫 Tiānhòugōng; Mazu temple), Yuhuang Cabinet (玉皇阁 Yùhuánggé; Ming Dynasty building) and Tongqingli (large residential building). Tin Hau (Matsu Temple) located in the centre of the whole street. There are nearly hundreds of stores along the street, among them Yangliuqing painting gallery and painted clay sculpture of Clay Figure Zhang are most famous, as well as calligraphy and painting brushes (文房四宝) of Four Treasures and Spring Church, cultural antiques of Sui Man Chai and cloisonne (景泰蓝), double-sided embroidery (双面绣), jade carvings (牙玉雕), art ceramics (艺术陶瓷), Chinese and Western musical instruments and gold and silver jewelry from other dozens of famous artists and craftmen.

Ancient cultural street full of cheap and tasty cafes. The street is named after the Tianjin Drum Tower, which divides the street into east and west sections. Other notable buildings include the Guangdong Guild Hall (home to the Tianjin Opera Museum) and the Xu Family Grand Courtyard (home to the Tianjin Old City Museum).

One of the oldest parks in Tianjin. It was established in 1863 as a private garden and handed over to the state in 1951.

Tianjin's largest urban park. It consists of three lakes and eleven islands. Surrounding the lakes are gardens and pavilions representing different architectural styles.

First opened in 1980, the zoo has around 3000 animals from 200 different species.

A priceless building decorated with about 4,000 pieces of ancient porcelain, 400 pieces of jade stone carving, 20 tons of crystal and agate and million pieces of ancient Chinese ceramic chips. China house museum is a private museum which belongs to the Tianjin Yueweixian Cultural Industry and Investment Group. It is built with more than 700,000,000 pieces of Chinese ancient porcelain; 15000 ancient porcelain bows, dishes, and vases; 300 ancient porcelain-cat pillows; 300 stone lions; 300 marble sculptures; more 20 tons natural crystal, etc. Inside the museum there are 4 floors, filled with Chinese ancient furniture, woodcarving, etc. All the exhibits are collected by the chairman of the museum, Zhang Lianzhi. The Porcelain House is located in a bustling area, close to the former residence of Zhang Xueliang, an instigator of the Xi’an incident and a patriotic hero in China. Built as a 100-year-old French style villa, the residence is a five-storied building with a total area of 3,000 square meters. Porcelain used to decorate the house can date back to the Han Dynasty. Visitors can almost find every type of chinaware from the house, which perfectly combines traditional Chinese architecture and western architecture. On the roof of the house is embedded a 768-meter-long dragon relief made by over ten thousand pieces of porcelain and an eye-catching English word, ‘China’, with some Chinese characters and the flag of China on both sides. Inside the house there are many famous paintings comprised by ceramic chips, including the world famous painting, Mona Lisa. Besides, the walls of the house are named the ‘peace wall’, consisting of 635 vases made during the Republic of China and the late Qing Dynasty.

Dedicated to the late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) and his wife Deng Yingchao (1904-1992), both of whom are widely celebrated in China for their contribution to the socialist revolution. The memorial hall has an extensive collection of photographs and artefacts pertaining to the lives of the two individuals. Some notable artefacts include the printing press used to print the Tientsin Student newspaper during the May Fourth Movement, an aircraft donated to Zhou Enlai by the Soviet Union, Zhou Enlai's car and the urn that once contained both Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao's ashes. As of 2021, visitors are required to make a booking on WeChat before visiting (see website for QR code).

Tianjin Museum has modern exhibition halls with an area of 11,000 square meters as well as cultural and leisure facilities with multiple functions. It looks like a swan spreading its wings to fly from the lake surface. It possesses cultural relics of almost 200,000 items, including calligraphy, painting, bronze, ceramics, jade article, stamp of ruler’s seal, carapace bone, coin, historical document, relics of modern times, folk craftwork and so on. Among them, there are nearly 1000 grade one cultural relics of the state. Appointments to visit the museum can be made on the museum's WeChat account (see website for QR code).

Since 2020 all visitors have been required to make an appointment before visiting the museum. Visitor numbers are capped at 4500 on ordinary days and 7500 on public holidays. Appointments can be made on the museum's website (which is in Chinese only) and also on the museum's WeChat account (see website for QR code).

The museum is housed inside the Guangdong Guild Hall (广东会馆), a well-preserved historical building dating from the late Qing Dynasty that was used as a meeting place for merchants from Guangdong Province. The guild hall has a colorful history. Sun Yat-Sen gave a speech here in 1912. During the May 4th Movement of 1919, political activists, including Deng Yingchao, gathered here to talk and hold performances. In 1925, the site became the office of the Tianjin Federation of Trade Unions. During the Japanese occupation, it was used as training center for police constables. Following the establishment of the PRC, it was converted into a school. It was finally turned into a museum in 1986.

Early modern Chinese writer whose stories have been adapted into films such as Ang Li's "Lust, Caution". Zhang Ailing lived here for a very brief time during her early childhood years. The building is now a cafe.

Jingyuan Garden with a history of 80 years is a famous residence combined both Chinese and European architectural styles. It is now one of the important heritage sites under the city's protection. Built in 1921, Jingyuan Garden, also named Qianyuan Garden, was the private residence of Lu Zongyu, minister-counselor to Japan appointed by the Northern Warlords’ Government. Later it was named by Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty on July 1929 when he settled here with his wives. “Jing” means stillness in English and the Garden was named by the emperor who tried to strengthen himself with noble spirit by living in a peaceful environment. Jingyuan Garden with an area of 3360 square meters consists of three sets of courtyards, the front yard, the back yard and the side yard. The main building is a two-storied Spanish-style building. The first floor serves as a living room, a dining room, guest rooms and a kitchen, while the second floor as bedrooms, a library and a chamber. The exterior walls and balconies with projecting brims were used to add more room to the building. In front of the garden will be built a garden, in which enormous poplars, pagoda trees and cloves are planted and some ponds and pavilions are constructed. Besides, a reception office, a kitchen, a garage and a tennis court will be built on the northeast side of the garden. Jingyuan Garden integrates different architectural styles, such as Japanese and Spanish. The structure and material of the gates are of typical Japanese style, simple and plain, while the low pitched roof and the detailed decoration are of obvious Spanish architectural style. The garden is now displayed following its original arrangements of furniture and adornments. And there are also exhibits of some documents and photos related to the daily life and political life of Pu Yi, the last emperor.

Visitors are expected to make a booking before visiting the museum. Bookings can be made on WeChat (see here for QQ code).

Visitors are advised to make an appointment before visiting the museum, but it's possible to visit without a prior appointment as long as the daily limit on the number of visitors has not been exceeded.

The Haihe River is one of the great rivers of northern China. North Canal, the Yongding River, Daqing River, Ziya River, South Canal, five rivers on three sides, north, west and south convergence to Tianjin.