Tianjin: A Melting Pot of Cultures

European Architecture in the Old Concessions

In the old concession districts, European-style buildings with gardens make interesting places to visit.

After the Second Opium War ended in 1860, the big powers including Great Britain, France, the U.S., Germany, and Japan established concessions in Tianjin. Over the next few years, Russia, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, and Italy followed suit. As the concession areas expanded, Tianjin gained the feel of a colonial city.

One of the European-style buildings in the old French concession is now decorated with hundreds of millions of porcelain fragments, adding a new scenic spot in Tianjin.

Foreign firms in the British concession constructed the city’s first European-style buildings. These were followed by places of worship, banks, and hotels: institutions like Wanghailou Church, Gordon Hall, the Astor Hotel, the German Club, and the Kailuan Mining Bureau Building, to name but a few. By the beginning of the 20th century, the city had become a forest of highrises.

The number of Western-style residences with gardens also grew. These beautiful houses, built in the style of various European countries, line the banks of the Haihe River. The British, Italian, German, and French concessions boast the most impressive residences. With their manicured lawns, pointed red rooves, and large balconies, the English houses are particularly attractive, just like a painting. There are five roads in the old British concession which feature the largest number of European-style buildings. This has become known as the “Five-Avenue Area.”