Travelogue: Shopping Guwenhua Jie
Tianjin's Ancient Culture Street
Tianjin does a lot of things really well while maintaining a low profile. Maybe that’s down to being so close to Beijing, I don’t know, but I low-key measure a lot of things we see and do against our experiences in Tianjin. Take “culture streets” for example. Everyone has their favorites, and each has a unique culture and attraction. I’ve been to a fair number and written about several (Gankeng, Nantou, XiJie), and always have a good time, but Tianjin’s Guwenhua Culture Street stands above all for me.
Not trying to put other places down, please understand, just raise Tianjin up!
Guwenhua is located in Nankai District on the banks of the Hai River. The street officially opened in 1986 but is built around the Tianhou Temple, or Niangniang Palace, which has existed since 1386. So this has been a busy area of culture, commerce, and spirituality for a long time. Long-time Readers will recognize Tianhou, also called Queen of Heaven Temple, dedicated to Mazu. We will visit the temple soon.
My memories of Guwenhua go back twenty years. All visitors being hosted will go, so I got taken there a lot, and when we began our family, Guwenhua is made for children to enjoy themselves. We would return for New Years to visit grandparents and go to the culture street. They loved the sweets, sugar, and cookies despite the cold.
Tianjin is one of those places that holds on to its past and traditions tenaciously. As much as Shenzhen is described as youthful and dynamic, Tianjin is the other thing. This is as endearing as it can be annoying. Even modernity bows to the deliberate pace, yet even Guwenhua has made strides since my last experience.
The street has been freshly polished, some key stores repositioned, flags and guides perked up, and most noticeable to me, the sloppy lived-in look that used to accumulate in the corners, particularly in front of Mazu’s temple, is all gone! Xi Jinping visited Tianjin in February 2024 and took part in the New Year celebrations by visiting Guwenhua. The place was wanting some loving care, and we need never worry about Tianjin losing any of its character and gumption, that survives in spades.
There are hundreds of stores here selling handicrafts and local snacks. Some have been here for generations. Some specialize in crafts that are unique only to Tianjin. Two of the most famous are the Clay Niren Zhang Painted Sculptures and the Yang Liuqing New Year Paintings. Like many families, we hang these Yang Liu Qing Nian Hua (杨柳青年画) for New Years but until this visit I hadn’t realized the special connection this art has to Tianjin.
We hang Yang Liu Qing around our home and on the doors every year. I don’t grasp the origins and meaning of all the tradition and ins and outs of the clever and meaningful sayings, the door gods, or the paintings of old time lively everyday life scenes, but I can observe that doing this is as meaningful as putting up the tree and Christmas lights when I was a growing up. These actions and the presence of these decorations mean time for community, family, rest and recharge. They remind us that politics, inequality, health struggles, just the daily work grind, that isn’t all there is.
Actually the name Yang Liu Qing Nian Hua (杨柳青年画) comes from the name of the small town, Yangliuqing, where these wood block printing and hand painting techniques originated and are still made today. Yangliuqing is a small town in XiQing district, a part of Tianjin, and artisans there have been making this art for 400 years.
The town is only 45 minutes drive from downtown Tianjin. Maybe we can go someday?
Carved wood blocks prints are then hand painted in lively colours showing everyday scenes and activities rich with symbolism and word play. Though today other techniques are often used, like modern printing and digital technology, the old techniques are still very much in use. I cannot say which methods were used to make any of the following pictures, please keep this in mind.
The symbolism draws heavily on the history and culture, interwoven with characters and sayings that have double, even triple meanings. It is all quite clever and goes well over my head.
As above, we see elegant courtly ladies and cherubic happy toddlers playing with goldfish. What a happy home life, showing the wish for prosperity, longevity and health expressed by many healthy children and leisure time.
Children often are the centre piece of Yang Liu Qing Nian Hua. They are energetic and mischievous, and always plump with reddened cheeks. Their clothing, the peaches, and flowers symbolize wishes for long life, wealth, and good fortune.
The curved silver object on the bottom right (above) is a Ruyi (如意), a kind of sceptre often seen in Chinese Buddhist ceremonies and folklore. It symbolizes power and good fortune. We will see these in many of our travels.
Let me introduce three gentlemen, celestial gods, I should say. Collectively they are called Sanxing (three stars). Representing Fortune ( 福 or Happiness), Prosperity (禄), and Longevity (寿) , they are named Fu, Lu, and Shou. These three attributes represent the ideal of a good life.
One will often encounter Fu, Lu, and Shou at temples, and particularly during Chinese New Year. Dear Readers, we have encountered these three together before, though not in their guises as old men.
At my favorite Daoist temple, Qingyang Palace in Chengdu, and Daci Buddhist Temple, we doubled down on Fu (福 happiness). I’d rather rely on myself for prosperity and longevity. A celestial can be brought in to help with happiness. Prosperity and Longevity can support or work against Happiness, so we may need help. Happiness is the most elusive and ephemeral of the three, don’t you think?
These paintings are physical representations of the culture and the values of the society. The value of family and children, representing happiness, wealth, and prosperity, the basic wishes of all of us.
There are so many different sizes, shapes, and designs, and at a wide variety of costs. One could pay as much or as little as one wished. The most expensive hanging pieces ran into the thousands while the most basic were 10 yuan.
I noted the reliance of scenes of nature, community, and individuals going about their regular tasks of farming, processing grain, sewing and embroidery, or just enjoying leisure time playing together. There is a real sense of shared community. There are no conflicts, no villains, everyone is happy and rubbing along together.
This is all tangible and practical imagery. It is spiritual but not plainly so. There are no celestial beings (well, a few), nobody riding clouds, no fairy tale immortals. Excepting the odd dragon here or there, it is all rooted in experiences anyone can relate to. The experience of spending time with this art is soothing and uplifting.
We like to bring something home from all of our trips. Our home is becoming a colourful cluttered mix of memories. We like this, a kind of museum of memories everywhere we look. So we had to bring a few examples of Yang Liu Qing Nian Hua home with us.
These two small framed images remind us of our boys and will be part of our memories of Tianjin for many years to come.
Next week, another art form unique to Tianjin, from a family of artisans that have been specializing for six generations: Niren Zhang (泥人张), or Clay Figure Zhang.
One thing that stands out to me from your travelogues is just how immaculately clean these Culture Streets are.
I appreciate how many photos you include with your articles, it feels very immersive. It always makes me smile to see the awesome art work and architecture:) Hope you have a great weekend Paul!