The Ritz-Carlton, Tianjin

The Five-Avenue Area, with the reputation of “World Building Exposition”, has become the most attractive humanities tourism destination which fully shows the city’s charisma. The Five-Avenue Area refers to the rectangular region in the Heping District south of Chengdu Street, north of Machang Street, east of Xikang Road, and west of Machang Street and Nanjing Road. In this area, there are 22 roads with a total length of 17 kilometers and total area of 1.28 square meters. “Five-Avenue Area” gets its name from five main streets: Machang Street, Munan Street, Dali Street, Changde Street and Chongqing Street from east to west. There are nearly 2000 western style buildings of various European styles designed and built in the early of last century that have been completely preserved.

Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street is a national 5A class touring sight. With 680m in length, its principal street is divided into two parts, i.e., South Palace Street and North Palace Street, centered by the Mazu Temple. It can be traced back to AD 1404. The buildings imitate Ming and Qing Dynasty's style. Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street begins at Gongbei Avenue in the north, and ends at Gongnan Avenue in the south, being 0.36 miles long and 16 feet wide. Although essentially a business street, Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street attracts tourists who come to see its special architectural styles. Shops on the streets mainly sell four stationery treasures of the Chinese study, i.e. writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper, as well as jade and ceramics, etc. In addition to the various shops, there are numerous stalls along the street, selling candied gourd, roasted sweat potatoes, pastry, desserts, etc. The most attractive food will be the tea soup made by a big teapot. Not only the taste but also the making process will make you unforgettable. Above all, as visitors walk along the street, they will be particularly impressed by the splendid replica classical architecture in the folk style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Visitors will feel like being in past times, surrounding by Chinese traditional culture and customs and returning to a friendly and peaceful life.

Haihe River, formed by five large rivers-the North Canal, the Yongding, the Daqing, the Ziya and the South Canal, is the largest water system of north China. Haihe basin covers an area over 0.267 million square km, cross Hebei Province, Beijing, Tianjin and Shangdong Province, with a total length up to 1, 050 km. Historically, the Haihe River was open to navigation 1,800 years ago, and gradually became a junction for navigation in the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Through centuries of development, it became a trading center gathering a great influx of businessmen from around the nation. Today the former shipping center is a place for relaxation.

Located in the center of the old city of Tianjin, the Guangdong Guild Hall was built in 1907. In 1912 Sun Yat-sen, forerunner of the Chinese, revolution, once made a speech there. And now it has been turned into the Tianjin Theatre Museum. Its original main hall and accompanying halls are used for exhibitions of the History of Chinese Opera and the History of Tianjin Opera. Meanwhile, people can enjoy Xiangsheng(Crosstalk) performance in Guangdong Guild Hall. Xiangsheng (Crosstalk) is a traditional Chinese comic performance featuring jokes and funny dialogues. Originated in Beijing, the art is popular across the country. It is widely believed that xiangsheng was formed sometime between the reigns of Emperor Xianfeng and Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, deriving from the “imitating shows” of the Song Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, xiangsheng matured and developed into an art with unique features and styles. It was mainly performed in Beijing dialect and in some cases, in other dialects.

Quanye Bazaar is the representative of Tianjin commercial stores. It is situated in the most prosperous district of the city. It was built in 1928 in the name of French Bazaar, because the bazaar is situated in the French concession. At present, the Quanye Bazaar has a large area of 29,600 square meters after nearly one hundred years’ development. The building wears features of French style, because the designer was a French architect. After decades, the building maintains its charm and unique grace. It was ranked as a Class A National Protected Architectural structure. Because of its location, at the crossing of Heping Road and Binjiang Avenue, two famous pedestrian streets in Tianjin, it is viewed as a symbol of Tianjin’s commercial prosperity. People in Tianjin call it the “No. 1 Store on Gold Street.”

Located 12 km northwest of Ji County, which is about 100 km north of Tianjin, Mt. Panshan is covered with lavish plantations and has a rich historical heritage. Recently, Mt. Panshan has become the great escape for the city dwellers of Beijing and Tianjin. The natural scenery of Mt. Panshan is covered in rocks, streams, pine trees and vast greenness. More than 320 kinds of trees and shrubs have been found in the vicinity, these trees make the mountain a natural botanical garden. Its main peak Moon hanging Peak (Guayue feng) although only 864-meters above sea level, rises sharply. This highest peak also has, situated on its summit, the Dingguang Stupa that is alleged to contain a tooth of Buddha. Just like other famous mountains in China, the quiet Mt. Panshan is also inhabited by monks. Today 72 temples of all sizes and Buddhism schools can be found here, both restored and new. The temples still boast many rich cultural relics.

Tianjin Italian Town is also known as the Italian Concession which was built in 1902. The Italian Town was finished in 2005. It covers the area from Coast area to the Victory Road. 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.There are 24-hour bars, cafés, restaurants, art museum and cinemas, attracting tourists from all over the world.