The Wudadao Tourist Area in Tianjin refers to the rectangular region in the Heping District, specifically south of Chengdu Road, north of Machang Road, east of Xikang Road, and west of Machang Road and Nanjing Road.
Why the Wudadao Tourist Area is special
Nowadays, the Wudadao tourist area is recognized as an important window of Tianjin, as well as an Exposition of Neoteric Architectures. This area, where there are 22 roads with a total length of 17 kilometers, covers 1.28 square meters. There are nearly 2000 western buildings of various European styles, including Renaissance, Greek, Gothic, Romantic, and Eclectic. They are designed and built in the early of last century, until now most of them have been completely preserved.
Wudadao Tourist Area highlights
On the both sides of Munan Road, there are rows of western buildings, pretty courtyards and gardens, which fully display the European architectural style. Dali Road, formerly known as Singapore Road, is renowned for a number of western buildings of various European styles. In Chongqing Road, most of the buildings are apartments, among which there are a lot of former residences of Chinese celebrities, including two presidents of the Republic of China and seven Premiers or acting Prime Ministers during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, a large number of celebrities from different fields, such as famous educators Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling, well-known industrialists Zhou Xuexi, Li Zhuchen and Song Feiqing, as well as Eric Liddell, the British Olympic 400-metre race gold-medalist, have all left their historic mark in the area. Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the USA, has also been here during his youth. Located at the most northern part, Chengdu Road has been regarded as a symbol of Wudadao Tourists Area.
According to the statistic, there are 89 English-style buildings, 41 Italian-style buildings, 6 French-style buildings, 4 German-style buildings, 3 Spanish-style buildings, 46 courtyard-style buildings, 40 compartment-style buildings, 5 western style houses, and 3 buildings featuring Chinese-Western mixed style buildings.