Five Great Avenues 

Introduction 

The Five Avenue Area is a rectangular region located in the Heping district. The area refers to the east of Xikang Road, north of Machang Street, south of Chengdu Street, north of Machang Street, Nanjing Road and west of Machang Street. The Five Great Avenue area has a total of 22 roads and they stretch for 17 kilometers. In addition to European style architecture in this region, there is a residential area which was occupied by the first small group of foreigners who opened up concessions right next to the office area, around the former Italian concession in the east of Marco Polo Plaza and near Jiefang Road. In the 20th century, this area was popular amongst wealthy individuals, political figures, businessmen and dignitaries because of its safety, convenience in terms of duty-free customs and transport leading to the rapid development of the Five Avenue Area to be an affluent area. There are approximately 41 Italian style, 89 British style, 4 in German style, 6 French style and 3 Spanish style buildings

Things to see and do on a visit 

Munan Avenue (Mu Nan Dao)

Stretching 2.08 kilometers long, Munan Avenue has 22 residences of former celebrities and 74 other buildings. On No. 2 is the former residence of Shun Dianying constructed in 1930.

Machang Avenue (Ma Chang Dao)

This is the oldest, widest and longest road among Five Great Avenues. The Building located on No. 121 in the Avenue used to be the former residence of the British Overseas Scholar, Da Wenshi. This residence is a typical Spanish Villa. 

There is also a Beijiang Museum which is one of the earliest museums in China built in 1922 adopting the Roman architectural style. The Tianjin Institute of Commerce and Industry, currently named Tianjin Foreign Studies University is also on this avenue and was constructed in 1921 using the French Romanesque architectural style.

Chengdu Avenue

The avenue occupies 24 meters and is the widest amongst the other avenues in the Five Great Avenues. No. 14 is a cubism villa incorporating sculptures and lines. On No. 93 is a British style building and on No. 60 is occupied by a modern yet simple building. 

Dali Avenue (Da Li Dao)

On Dali Avenue are the former residences of Cai Chengxun with the No.3 Building being the main building taking a French Romanesque appearance adopting the use of Chinese wood carvings for its interior decoration. On No.5 the building is a typical Chinese courtyard decorated using wood, sliding paper doors, stones and bricks. 

Chongqing Avenue

This Avenue houses building with both western and Chinese architecture. On No. 55 the building is a mansion with a western-styled outer eave and a Chinese patio. The East of the courtyard is home to a Chinese style garden with stone caves, rockeries and hexagonal pavilions. 

Changde Avenue

This is the shortest avenue at the Five Great Avenues with a length of 1,219 meters. The avenue has numerous western-style villas. 

Horse-drawn, bikes and Rickshaws

Horse-drawn carts are the best ways to get visitors who wish to explore the area. The rides give an introduction to exotic architecture and take visitors back in time at the former residences.