Ancient Culture Street
» Tianjin, He Bei

天津古文化街 天津卫发祥地

For anyone who is in Tianjin for the first time and wishes to see its old cultural traditions and customs, the best place to explore is Ancient Culture Street. Tianjin Ancient Culture Street with 600 years history, standing in the area of key section in upstream of the Haihe River, is located in Nankai district of Tianjin. Covering an area of 224,200 square meters, it used to be one of earliest water transport docklands in Tianjin where is one of the busiest cities of commerce and trade in history.

The ancient buildings

Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street rebuilt in 1980's is one of the great successes in the renovation and redevelopment. The whole block is still conserved the existing urban pattern and tissue of traditional Chinese layout. The lanes and houses in the street are almost preserved in a good condition with Tianjin local feathers.

A giant archway inscribed with the words "An Ancient Neighborhood of Tianjin" stands at the entrance to the street, and behind the archway is a street of 600 meters long lined with buildings in the Qing-dynasty architectural style. There are so many different buildings that the eye can not take them in all at once. Walking by these buildings with grey walls and decorated with colorful streamers is like walking into the past. The most note-worthy things are the boards inscribed with the names of shops and with couplets at the shop fronts, which are written by famous calligraphers.

Outstanding shops

Nirenzhang (Clay Sculpture)

Walking through the archway, the first shop that comes in sight is the shop of Zhang, the Sculptor of Clay Sculpture. The clay sculptures are famous in Tianjin, especially those made by Zhang family. Unlike the colorful clay sculptures from other parts of China, the works by the Zhangs are a reflection on life; the eyes of these small mud men sculptures express sorrow, happiness, joy and frustration. The Zhang's and other shops selling these sculptures can be found on the street.

New Year pictures of Yangliuqing

There is also a special shop selling the famous New Year pictures of Yangliuqing. These New Year pictures combine delineation, woodcarving, overprinting, color painting and mounting techniques; and feature an exquisite touch, smooth lines, elaborate techniques, lifelike color paintings and a vivid luster, especially the color paintings of human faces, which are fine, bright and true to life. You will marvel at the elegance of this kind of Chinese folk art.

Studio of Living Stone

Studio of Living Stone is the name of another eye-catching shop because it is decorated with a long string of multiple national flags and advertisements written in both Chinese and English. Most of the things sold in the shop are curios, including portraits of emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Tea soup (chatang)

Next to the studio is a stall selling tea soup (chatang), a sweet drink. The Tea soup master mixes rice flour, sugar and minced nut in a bowl and then he fills the bowl with boiling water from a huge bronze teapot. To attract patrons, the stall keeper demonstrates his skill of holding four bowls in one hand while pouring boiling water into them from a huge teapot with a dragon-shaped spout.

Other knickknacks

The Ancient Culture Street is a good place to scour for traditional Chinese art and souvenirs. Most of the items here, knickknacks like meditation balls, stone seals and jade (or faux jade) jewelry are aimed directly for tourists. There is also a marvelous array of less common item such as traditional kites and clay sculptures of mythological figures and opera characters available at many shops.

Historic cultural relics

As a cultural precinct, Tianjin Ancient Culture Street is well known by the local and overseas tourists. The two attractions, Yuhuang Pavilion and Tianhou Temple are two historic cultural relics in the list of city level ones reversed.

Tianhou Temple

Within the confines of the street is the Tianhuo Temple, apparently built in 1326 in deference to the heavenly Goddess and in hope of protection for Tianjin's locals. Since then the temple has been renovated a number of times. In 1984, it was turned into a museum displaying local customs, including some fine examples of the Tianjin clay works and woodblocks from the nearby Yangliuqing Town.

Chinese traditional performances

The square in front the temple is big enough to hold a thousand people. Built around the square are ballad halls, where fine performances are given on almost all festival days. A spectacular "Imperial Festival" is held in and around the square every year on the 23rd day of March in lunar calendar. It is said that this day is the birthday of heavenly Goddess. On the ceremony, many Chinese traditional performances would be seen, such as Shiziwu (dancing play as a lion), Huahanchuan (dancing with a ship like dressing), Caigaoqiao (dancing standing on a high stick) and so on.

As the result of expanding Tianhou Temple, renovating Yuhuang Pavilion building and renewing the Haihe Tower, this street with fine landscape and distinctive architectural style has been a flourish, cultural and tourist area.

How to get there

A short walk east of the Confucius temple, or a taxi ride from the railway station. The street is situated in the northeastern quarter of Tianjin, beside the Haihe River.

Attractions around » Tianjin, He Bei

Natural Scene

Natural Scene

Historical Site

Historical Site

Cultural Site

Cultural Site

Day Entertainment & Sports

Day Entertainment & Sports

Shopping & Leisure

Shopping & Leisure

Historical Relic

Historical Relic

Shopping Street

Shopping Street

The Ancient Culture Street is a good place to scour for traditional Chinese art and souvenirs. Most of the items here, knickknacks like meditation balls, stone seals and jade, jewelry, traditional kites and clay sculptures of mythological figures and opera characters are aimed directly for tourists.



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