Fifth Avenue

Five Avenue is not an official place name, but should be six Avenue, namely Chengdu Road, Chongqing Road, Changde Road, Dali Road, munan road and Machang road.

As a result of the British concession, the remaining buildings of various styles and styles have become the brightest scenery. Machang road and munan road are the first two roads. They are not wide, but they have 300 small western style buildings. Behind them, there is a period of history, famous or unknown. If you look carefully, there will be more surprises.

The most characteristic way to visit the Fifth Avenue is to take a carriage; in addition, you can take a rickshaw or a battery car, with a guide to explain the whole journey. However, the Fifth Avenue is more suitable for strolling or renting a bicycle. If the journey is not very compact, you might as well calm down and take a stroll.

Fifth Avenue

Five Avenue in the downtown area of Tianjin is a block name of Machang Road, munan Road, Dali Road, Changde Road and Chongqing Road, which are juxtaposed from south to north. This block, which is dominated by "mamuda Changzhong", is the most complete western style building complex in Tianjin and even in China. Tianjin people call it "five main roads".

There are more than 2000 garden style houses with different national architectural styles built in 1920s and 1930s in Wudao area, with a construction area of more than 1 million square meters. Among the more than 300 buildings with typical features, 89 are British buildings, 41 are Italian buildings, 6 are French buildings, 4 are German buildings, 3 are Spanish buildings, and many are Renaissance buildings, classical buildings, eclecticism buildings, Baroque buildings, courtyard buildings and Chinese western buildings, which are known as the World Architecture Expo.

In 2011, the Fifth Avenue was identified as a historical and cultural block by Tianjin Planning Bureau.

Architectural features

The earliest small western style houses in Tianjin were mostly for foreigners who opened up concessions. At that time, the Wudao area was still a marsh. Foreigners' houses are next to the office area, near Jiefang Road, and some are around Marco Polo square in the former Italian Concession in Hebei Province. After entering the 20th century, on the one hand, the society and the government changed, and the concession became a political haven; on the other hand, Tianjin was full of business opportunities due to the advantages of geography, transportation and customs.

Historical evolution

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the wudaodao area was a pothole in the south of Tianjin. In this barren land, there are some shack style simple dwellings. At that time, there were "20 rooms", "60 rooms", "80 rooms" and other specious place names, which were later designated as the British concession. On December 17, 1860, the British concession in Tianjin was opened, and the Wudao area was designated as the British concession. After the 1911 Revolution, many Qing Dynasty imperial relatives, the old and the young came to live in Tianjin concession from Beijing, and many rich businessmen, celebrities from all walks of life, Hongjiao and important people in the period of Beiyang government also left their footprints here. Some of the cabinet members of the Beiyang government, including the president, the prime minister, the chief minister, the governor, the mayor and other celebrities from all walks of life, lived here after they left office, trying to make a comeback. The reason why Wudao became a "state within a state" was that the concession became a political haven due to the changes of society and government, and Tianjin was full of business opportunities due to the advantages of geography, transportation and customs.

As a typical representative of municipal gardens and residential buildings in Tianjin concession, Wudao district has its own characteristics: first, it has formed a large number of Western Architectural Group landscapes; second, the privacy of the buildings constitutes a deep and quiet style of the market; third, many modern political guests, compradors and dignitaries live here.

In 2014, gymnasium street was renamed as Wudao street.

Introduction to scenic spots

The Fifth Avenue in Tianjin is a rectangular area located in the south of Chengdu Road, north of Machang Road, east of Xikang Road and west of the intersection of Machang road and Nanjing Road in Heping District of Tianjin. There are 22 roads with a total length of 17 kilometers and a total area of 1.28 square kilometers. In history, it used to be the "extension outside the wall" of the British concession. The low-lying land was filled and leveled, and architects from all over the world built houses here. Since the 1960s, in order to unify the management, Tianjin urban construction department called the East-West Chengdu Road, Chongqing Road, Changde Road, Dali Road, munan road and Machang road "five main roads" in this area from north to south District. Today, the "five Avenue" has become synonymous with small western style buildings in Tianjin. There are three characteristics of place names in wudaodao area: first, there are more independent residences and fewer lanes, while famous buildings are all marked by house numbers, without other names or plaques. Second, the general names of streets and lanes are mainly "Li", and the name of "Hutong" has disappeared here. Third, there are some common names of "building", "villa", "village" and "square", such as: Hong Kong building, Racecourse villa, Cambridge building, Anle village, yuwenfang, etc.

Machang road is the earliest, widest and longest road built in Wudao area. This is a typical Spanish garden villa. It is the earliest building on the Fifth Avenue. Located on the racecourse road are the former Beijiang Museum and business college. Beijiang museum is one of the early museums in China. It was founded in 1922. The building is in the shape of "I" with Roman architectural style. Tianjin Institute of business and Technology (now Tianjin Foreign Studies University) was built in 1921. The main building has three floors with basement, large mushroom stone wall, Mansell tile roof and round bell. It is a French Roman architectural style.

Munan Road, 2.08 km long, has 74 buildings of style and features, 22 former residences of celebrities and 4 municipal cultural relics protection units. The trees on both sides of the road reflect the small western style buildings of different styles. Walking along the road, you can feel that the space scale of the road, house and tree is just right. 20 munan road is sun dianying's old house. Built in 1930, it is a three story western classical residence with basement, which is quite luxurious. No. 24 is the former residence of Yan Huiqing, a modern Chinese diplomat, with European classical architectural style. The Italian style residence in colonnade on the 28th is the former residence of Li Shufu, a descendant of eight "Li Shanren" in Tianjin. Li was once the manager of Tianjin Zhiye bank. No. 50 is the former residence of Zhang Xueming, the second brother of Zhang Xueliang, with red brick clear water wall and sloping tile roof, which has the style of English Courtyard Villa.

Cai Chengxun's former residence at 3 and 5 Dali road. No. 3 is the main building with French Roman appearance and Chinese wood carving for interior decoration. No. 5 is a Chinese style quadrangle family temple, with vertical flower doors, door and window partitions, and brick, wood and stone carvings. It's a Chinese and western residence.

55 Chongqing road. It is the residence of Prince Zaizhen of Qing Dynasty. The main building is composed of a two-story courtyard with western style eaves, Chinese style patio and decoration. The top floor is ancestral hall. The eastern part of the courtyard is a Chinese garden with rockery, stone caves and six corner pavilions. It's also a Chinese and western residence.

Architectural features

The original residents of Wudao are few foreigners. They are basically Chinese homeowners. They don't understand the style of Western architecture, so they cut and add as they please, which gives architects more freedom to play. Compared with the western buildings on Jiefang North Road, the western buildings on the Fifth Avenue are much more casual.

In addition, the privacy of the five Avenue building constitutes a deep and quiet atmosphere. This kind of psychology is externalized in the environmental image of the Fifth Avenue. The size of the house is pleasant, and it tends to be low with no high buildings; the courtyard is next to the street, and the flowers and trees in the courtyard cover the windows inside. The most important thing is that the courtyard walls are all solid walls, and railings are rarely used. Among them, the square hole wall of Minyuan building adopts the principle of blinds. It seems to be transparent, but in fact it is impossible to have a panoramic view of the courtyard from the outside, which adapts to the owner's psychology of deep residence and privacy.

Practical information

admission ticket

No tickets are required.

Tour mode

Walking is recommended.

The tour fee is 80 yuan by coach.

You can go to the five Avenue tourist service center, which is explained by professional commentators to guide tourists.

Opening Hours

Open all day.

Traffic information

metro

Subway Line 1 "Yingkou Road" station.

transit

The Fifth Avenue is a rectangular area, with many buses passing by, mainly including sightseeing No. 2, No. 9, No. 13, No. 800, No. 831, No. 902, No. 904, No. 906, etc.

geographical position

Tour route

The best tourist route of Wudao exotic area is: Wudao Tourist Service Center - Chongqing Road - Changde Road - Dali road - Xinhua Road - Machang road - munan road - Hong Kong Road - Chongqing Road - Nanhai Road - Hebei road.

Yingkoudao station of Tianjin Metro Line 1

The former residences of celebrities along the way are: former residences of president Xu Shichang and Cao Kun of the Republic of China, former residences of six cabinet ministers of the Republic of China, including pan Fu, Gu Weijun, Zhang Shaozeng, Gong Xinzhan, Yan Huiqing and Zhu Qiqian, and palace of King Qing.

Interchange Road

Xikang Road

Guizhou Road

Kunming Road

Yunnan Road

Guilin Road

Changsha road

Hengyang Road

Hebei Road

Hunan Road

Nanhai Road

Xinhua Road

Macao Road

Hong Kong Road

Hubei Road

Zhengzhou Road (parallel to the Fifth Avenue, within the scope of the Fifth Avenue)

Chinese PinYin : Wu Da Dao