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As mentioned above, the rent areas in the 1900’s were gradually set up, the emperors began to make large constructions. The Jiefang Road, which ran across the rent areas of the British, French, and Germans, was the first completed street in the rent area. Many earliest buildings with western characteristics in Tianjin also appeared on this road, which then influenced other districts. Yihe Foreign Firm (No.157 in Northern Jiefang Road), one of the four famous supreme firms, was built in 1861 and covered 8.9 Mu. The building of Taigu foreign firms (currently the construction materials company) covered an area of 13187 sqm, with the Taigu dock located nearby. The Chinese bought the house and land of the Yuzhong restaurant (currently the textile station) built in 1905, from Ma Kai. In 1923, they enlarged the area and these days we can see the unique architecture. The Yi Pin building was built in 1900 in the shape of a rectangle with brick posts. The eves on the house is designed with grace and an inspired form of decoration. The construction style imitates Chinese construction techniques. The German Club was built in 1907 and made of brick and wood mixed together. It embraces the current policy within the consultant hall and has been created in the Teutonic style. The Lu Lin foreign firm was built in 1908 with four floors and made of wood. The west end is shaped like a tower and the east end is folded up. The roof is very steep due to the German architecture style. It is worth mentioning that the earliest luxury hotel built by foreigners is the Astor Hotel, built and enlarged in 1863. The builder is an English church man named John Innocent. It was created in the classic English style with three floors, brick and wood architecture, and a flat roof. Until the 1900’s, the foreigners in Tianjin called it “the grand hotel”. In the spring of 1924, the Astor hotel created a second structure next to the original building, but this new part has four floors.
Jiefang road is the consulate of England, France, and Germany. It is the center hub for many banks and foreign firms. The architecture and style is classic Western architecture.
From the view of the economy, before the liberation, Jiefang road was the activity center of imperialism. When they became aggressive, economic policy was hit first. We can still see the different banks of different countries to this day and is so named, The Oriental Wall Street. Most of the architecture is reinforced concrete and the road post style houses still remain very powerful, luxurious, and elegant figures. The Tianjin Branch of the Bank of China embraces original Japanese Yokohama style (Zheng Jin Bank). North of Jiefang road post office, the Majin Li Bank embraces traditional English. The Commercial Research Institute as well as the Guo Dao Sheng Bank embraces the original Russian style. The City File Embassy and Hui Feng Bank embrace original English. The Agriculture Bank embraces the original American National City bank of New York. The Construction Bank and Hua Bei Bank embrace the original Belgium style. The Art Museum embraces the original French Hui Li. The Li Hua building is the tallest building on this road and located in the North Garden on Taian road. The original name is the Victoria Garden, built in 1887, with an elegant surrounding area and has become a crowd pleaser amoung tourists. It has become the star pearl of the road.
This road is like a historical river. There are so many records here of Tianjin history. She is gigantic and powerful, but no less graceful. The deep economic and culture style will keep her forever wise and beautiful.
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