China Guide
Hebei
Ancient Culture Street
Price: Sea Goddess Temple daily 9am–5pm
Price: Sea Goddess Temple ¥3
Address: Off Beima Lu just west of the river
Ancient Culture Street is a re-creation of a nineteenth-century Chinese street – minus the beggars and filth and plus the neon "OK Karaoke" signs – designed as a tourist shopping mall. It's fake but undeniably pretty, with carved balconies and columns decorating the facade of red and green wooden shops topped with curling, tiled roofs. The shops sell pricey antiques and souvenirs, and there's an especially large range of teapots. The first shop on the right after the entrance-way arch sells fifteen-centimetre-high clay figurines, in the style of Tianjin's master Zhang. Look out, too, for the stalls selling chatang, soup made with millet and sugar; the stallholders attract customers by demonstrating their skill at pouring boiling soup from a long, dragon-shaped spout into four bowls all held in one hand. About halfway down the street is the entrance to the heavily restored Sea Goddess Temple, originally built in 1326 and supposedly the oldest building in Tianjin. There's an exhibition of local crafts in the side halls.