Portsmouth, United Kingdom. On 13 June 2005, an antique iron bell, snatched by the crew of HMS Orlando in 1900 as a war trophy during the Boxer Rebellion, was being returned to China in a ceremony attended by government representatives from both countries, giving a symbolic closure to the Sino-British conflict which arose more than a century ago. Just two feet tall, cast in 1884, the bell was hung high overlooking the Dagu Fort, a naval outpost guarding the route from the Bohai Sea to Beijing, the imperial capital. The fact that the military artefact was taken by the invaders, signified the beginning of the end for the crumbling Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). Yet in the midst of all that pillaging and plundering, an important centre for international trade and industry in East Asia was being built. Traces of its past glory have survived the ravages of time, war and natural disasters. Tianjin, conceived in turmoil and humiliation, now shines as the ‘World Museum of Architecture’ attracting over 700,000 visitors each year.

Founded in December 1404, Tianjin (literally ‘heavenly ford’) was named as such after a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) crown prince crossed what is now called Haihe River on the way to Beijing to stage a coup, which was successful. The new emperor then designated the once desolate yet auspicious coastal town as Tianjin wei (literally ‘garrison of the regal crossing’). With the Bohai Sea to the east, the Grand Canal to the south, and Beijing to the northwest in close proximity, Tianjin shielded the imperial seat from maritime military threats and doubled as a transportation node through which supplies from the abundant south were delivered to the capital. Even in its pre-colonial days Tianjin had a strategic role to fill.

With the advent of guns and cannons the strategic advantage of Tianjin became moot, and in 1859 it fell to the Anglo-French forces who eventually shot and burned their way into Beijing, driving the young emperor Tongzhi and his mother, the infamous Empress Dowager out of the Forbidden Palace. The mayhem concluded with the third unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, the Treaty of Peking, which stipulated that Tianjin was to be opened up for foreign trade. Since then Tianjin was the centre for business in all descriptions, including, of course, the lucrative trade in opium, some of which ironically ended up in the imperial palace to be consumed in secret by brooding concubines and eunuchs who needed the drug to wash away the drudgery of their daily existence.

Evidence of European presence is found mainly on Jiefang Lu, dubbed the ‘Wall Street of Tianjin’, and what is now called the Five Avenues in the heart of Tianjin. Like Hong Kong’s Central and the Peak areas, these two areas were the starting point of colonial settlement which radiated outwards to cover more districts along the Haihe River, which cuts through the city in a north-south orientation. Britain was the first to set up its concession where its nationals enjoyed extraterritorial rights. The French and the Americans shortly followed suit. In the ensuing two decades, six more foreign powers established their concessions: Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy and Austro-Hungarian Empire.? Population rose rapidly from 440,000 in 1840 to 600,000 by 1896. Legations, banks and major trading houses were built to the contemporary European aesthetics. A walk along Jiefang Lu yields a magnificent sight of edifices of solemn grandeur, featuring imposing Roman columns and Ionic pillars on the frontage of buildings such as the former offices of the HSBC and the China-France Bank of Industry and Commerce. Other foreign institutions along Jiefang Lu had the same stately presence but in an array of different styles; from Beaux-Arts Classical to Italian Renaissance, from Gothic to Neo-Baroque, and everything in between. Formerly the major thoroughfare joining the British, American, French and German concessions, Jiefang Lu is now home to financial, municipal and academic institutions which operate from the same premises which had similar functions.

About fifteen minutes walk towards the southeast the scene changes dramatically as one enters what is called the Five Avenues. This neighborhood, which actually covers six major streets – Chengdu Lu, Chongqing Lu, Changde Lu, Dali Lu, Munan Lu and Machang Lu, was a marshy wasteland within the British concession. Between 1919 and 1926 the construction department of the British cession used silts from Haihe River to fill up the area and built roads there. Since then mansions and villas were built. Curiously enough the mansions, which enjoyed quiet seclusion in the tree-lined streets, were occupied mostly by affluent Chinese rather than westerners. The residential hall of fame included ousted imperial descendents, warlords on the run as well as literary rising stars at the time. These smaller, more delicate mansions have enjoyed the kind of prestige accorded to traditional landmarks such as the courtyard houses in Beijing.? In fact, even Mao Zedong, who condoned the xenophobic Cultural Revolution, once publicly stated that the courtyard houses in Beijing and the western-style mansions in Tianjin were China’s architectural treasures that must be preserved at all costs.

Such mansions can also be found outside the Five Avenues. The former Italian concession in the Hebei district along the north-eastern bank of Haihe River, offers a completely different sight. In contrast with the low-key and quiet Five Avenues half-hidden in shadows of trees and built in an irregularly shaped network of streets, the former Italian concession features wider streets lined with bright pastel mansions. Here, the focal point is the Dante Square, immediately announcing the identity of the former occupants as visitors enter the neighbourhood.

The return route south along Haihe River to Dagu Lu leads to the commercial district which joins the former financial district of Jiefang Lu and the residential Five Avenues. Here was where Europeans first settled and as a result, tailors, barbers, restaurateurs and publicans set up their businesses. The most famous landmarks are the Quanye Department Store and the former Tientsin Land Investment Company complex, both with Post-Renaissance/Late Stylist sensibilities. The meeting point of various foreign concessions, this area was once the nightlife hotspot for sailors – especially the Americans – in search of licentious pleasures, teeming with bars, cabaret clubs and brothels. Between the 1920’s and 1940’s, White Russians and Russian Jews fleeing Soviet persecution entered China through Manchuria in the northeast and somehow found their niche of comfort in this neighbourhood. With favourable conditions under the British jurisdiction they were able to run solicitor’s offices, ballet schools, Russian delicatessens, making enormous contribution to the prosperity of this district.

In Tianjin every old building tells a story, as the city itself was founded in an epoch of instability which, ironically, also gave it the distinguishing cosmopolitan transformation. Instead of bitter nationalism, conservatory attitude prevails. The Tianjin Municipality has issued a decree expressly stipulating measures mitigating the decimation of these historic edifices. Also in place are planning laws encouraging new buildings to have similar designs as the old ones, ensuring aesthetic consistency of the cityscape. A walk around Tianjin is indeed very much like a visit to a history museum, the visual cues being the stunning architecture carrying its colourful past.

Travel tips: daily departures from Hong Kong to Tianjin, flight time approximately three hours. Non-Chinese nationals must obtain a visa, available at the China Travel Service offices throughout Hong Kong. For further information, please visit: www.ctshk.com