Italian-Style Tourist Area — the epitome of history and culture protection by Haihe River

In recent years, great effort was made in Tianjin to tap the economic, historical and cultural value of historic buildings. Italian-style Tourist Area is becoming the epitome of history and culture protection by Haihe River, as well as a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In Italian-style Tourist Area, which is located in the south of Hebei District, Tianjin, there are a number of Italianstyle buildings of the early 20th century. This is the only area in Asia with Italian-style buildings and Italian cultural elements. In the construction and development of Italian-style Tourist Area, the distinct historical and cultural resources in the region will be made full use of to highlight the Italian elements. With presenting European elements as its theme, this area will be built into a comprehensive international region with tourism, business, leisure, entertainment and culture. As the largest cultural cooperation project between China and Italy, Italian-style Tourist Area was listed as a key project in Tianjin for the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), and it became a key node of the development and reconstruction of Haihe River. In the tourist area, there are buildings of different styles from Italy, including more than 30 former residences of celebrities in history. As witnesses of the ups and downs of modern China, the houses and streets there have countless stories to tell. Liang Qichao, a renowned Chinese scholar in modern politics, wrote his Methodology for History Research and other masterpieces here. The playwright Cao Yu, author of Thunderstorm, spent his childhood and youth here. In 2010, Italian-style Tourist Area, along with Eye of Tianjin and Binhai New Area Aircraft Carrier Theme Park, passed the assessment of National Tourism Administration and was ranked as a national AAAA tourist area. In 2015, the National Tourism Administration released the first list of “Trustworthy Tourist Areas in China”, on which were 55 A-class tourist areas in Tianjin, including Italian-style Tourist Area, among 1,801 tourist areas throughout China. With advantageous geographic location, profound cultural heritage, and tempting investment opportunities, Italian-style Tourist Area has attracted increasing attention from both home and abroad. Receiving over 5,000 visitors each day, Italian-style Tourist Area has become a new namecard of the tourism industry of Tianjin.