Tianjin simply known as Jin is situated in the northeastern part of North China Great Plain, bordering the Bohai Sea in the east, leaning against the Yuanshan Mountain in the north, with its terrain traversing the Haihe River through north and south. It has become the hub of communications of North China and the gateway of the capital city.

 

Ancient Tianjin in a Painting

 

Tianjin was once part of Bohai Sea in the remote antiquity. During the Pre-Qin days, Tianjin once belonged to the Yan and Qi kingdoms of the Warring States. In the Western Han Dynasty, the Tinajin region mainly was part of the Yuyang prefecture, Quanzhou county, the Bohai prefecture and Zhangwu county.

 

Foreign Fightship Showed Power in 1900s

 

The original name of Tianjin was "Zhigu". It was changed into Tianjin in early Ming Dynasty. In 1398, Zhu Di dispatched troops from Beijing in the pretext of "pacification of rebellion", and defeated Zhu Yun Wen and became Emperor. In commemoration of the place where he crossed the river moving southward, he renamed the place "Tianjin" by imperial order, meaning "the place from where the emperor crossed the river" and stationed "Tianjin Guards" there. From then on Tianjin is also called "Tianjin Guards".

 

Tianjin was built in the 2nd year (1404) of the reign of Emperor Yong Le of the Ming Dynasty.

 

Old Drum Tower Street

 

Tianjin was a seaport and an important gateway of the capital city during the Qing Dynasty. The transport of grain by water to the capital continued to develop and it became the economic center in the north.

 

 

 

Being a traditional industrial city in the north of China, Tianjin is one of the four municipalities under the direct administration of the central government and the second largest port city in China. With 600 years history after establishment, Tianjin has innumerable interesting episodes. By the 1858 Treaty, Tianjin became a trading port. Today, Tianjin is a major coastal city and the gateway for Beijing to the oceans. The port is located on the backward position of the Haihe river and the Great Cannel and has convenient transportation. By multiple culture exchanges, Tianjin has various styles of buildings, including Gothic, neoclassic, artistic buildings, etc.

 

Tianjin is not only a historical and cultural famous city, but also the birth place of the culture of Northern China. The Tianjin literature was flourishing in the Gardens Culture Period at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. Once the Tianjin literature, represented by the Shuixizhuang culture, was at the height of splendor. The art of calligraphy and painting goes back to ancient times. Especially after the Qing dynasty, there comes an age of famous artists in Tianjin. There are four matchless arts or crafts in Tianjin, i.e. the beautiful and colorful Yangliuqing paintings for spring festival; the absolutely lifelike colored sculptures of Nirenzhang; the vivid painted Fengzhengwei's kites; and the exquisitely wrought brick carvings.

 

Tianjin has plenty of special local products, like the Yangliuqing paintings for spring festival; Nirenzhang colored sculptures; Windy-boat carpet; Wei's kites; paper-cut; black crockery; violet crockery; cloisonn¨¦, etc.

While Tianjin was called as the multinational architect museum, the architects in Tianjin are specialized as ancient and modern buildings are existing side by side. Since the harbor was established early in China, and there were 9 concessions of different counties settled in Tianjin, more than 1000 of various kind of foreign style villas & buildings constructed in the late 19th century or early 20th century are preserved in Tianjin.

 

1.Yangliuqing Paintings for Spring Festival

Being one of the four Paintings for Spring Festival in China, the Yangliuqing painting was produced in the town of Yangliuqing, west Tianjin, middle 17th century. This kind of painting is characterized as printed by wooden carved plates and colored by hand painting. The paintings have a wide range of subjects, shapely layout and are symbolizing lucky and festival.

 

2.Colored Sculpture of Nirenzhang

The art of Nirenzhang Colored Sculpture was initiated by Zhang Mingshan 140 years ago. The sculptures are lifelike after being carved and colored.

 

3.Wei's Kites

Fine made kites, beautiful, colorful, stable while being flied, useful and collectable.