ZizhuLingang - the engine of urban development in modern Tianjin

Zizhu Forest was originally a small village located on the west bank of the Haihe River in Majiakou, southeast of Tianjin City, and there is an ancient temple called Zizhu Nunnery. Here the river is wide and deep, and the tide of the Bohai Sea flows back through the Haihe River, forming a tidal difference of 8 to 11 feet, which is convenient for large ships to enter and exit and anchor, and has the superior conditions for building a port. In 1860, Tianjin was opened as a treaty port. On January 20, 1861, the port was officially opened to the public. Since then, Britain, France and the United States have begun to build ports along the river in the Zizhulin Concession, and the Zizhulin Port Area has begun to prosper. Due to the intrusion of foreign shipping industry, the scale and function of Tianjin Port have undergone great changes, mainly: the traditional shipping of ships has gradually been replaced by large ships; the main body of river transport has gradually been replaced by sea transport; the single grain-based cargo has gradually been replaced by a variety of foreign trade and miscellaneous goods (foreign goods); the sovereign port has become a colonial port. At this time, due to the narrow and shallow river of Zhigu Port, large ships could not be traced, and the Zhigu Port Area, which had flourished for more than 700 years, gradually lost its transshipment function and began to decline, and the center of the port area began to move east to the area of Zizhu forest.

With the development of zizhulin port area and foreign trade and shipping, it has led to the prosperity of various industries in Tianjin, driving the shift of the city's focus to the concession area, and finally contributing to the basic scene of the modern Tianjin city, that is, the business office area dominated by the two sides of Jiefang Road in the central area of the concession; the luxury residential area dominated by the five avenues; and the commercial area dominated by the small white building and the persuasion field. In the more than 80 years since the opening of the port, Tianjin has become the second largest city in China, and the core driving force of its development is the function of port water transport through five continents and Guangdong and the four seas.