In the heart of Tianjin, on the west bank of the Haihe River flowing towards the sea, Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street has lasted for more than 600 years. This is not only the "hometown of Tianjin", but also the place where the 100-year-old Shang Dynasty inherits. Nowadays, many new consumer elements have added "new ideas" to the old neighborhoods.

On the Lantern Festival, the ancient cultural street is crowded with people, "Old Tianjin" comes to buy time-honored products, and new tourists come to taste Tianjin flavor.

At less than 10 a.m., there were people coming and going in the "Tiangang Impression" cultural and tourism comprehensive experience hall at the core of Ancient Culture Street. Three staff members rushed to introduce red wine from France to consumers; a group of children studying and studying immersively watched videos about Tianjin's history in the 5D cinema; several tourists experienced the lifting container process in the container operation simulation console experience area of ​​Tianjin Port.

On February 12, children learned about the ship model at the "Tiangang Impression" Cultural and Tourism Comprehensive Experience Hall. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ran

"This is a cross-border cooperation between the historical and cultural district and Tianjin Port Group." Zhang Yuan, the head of "Tiangang Impression", said that through this internet celebrity check-in site, the close connection between Tianjin Port and the city can be displayed in all aspects, and at the same time, the red wine, fruits, fresh food and other products from afar can be exhibited. Not long ago, the cherries that were cleared from Tianjin Port arrived at "Impression of Tianjin Port" the next day, and more than 800 boxes of cherries were quickly sold out. "Everyone not only looks at the freshness of cherries, but also about the freshness of our sales form." Although they are new members of Tianjin Ancient Culture Street, the connotation behind the "Impression of Tianjin Port" is even more noticed by Zhang Hongpeng, director of the Tianjin Ancient Culture Street Management Committee.

"Tianjin Port has a deep connection with the ancient cultural street." Zhang Hongpeng introduced that the earliest canal terminal in Tianjin is at the mouth of Sancha River not far from the ancient cultural street, which has driven the development of commerce in this block. Nowadays, relevant departments have fully explored the historical context of canal transportation culture and port development, allowing tourists to feel the "hehai and Jinqi" while spending, and injecting new vitality into the century-old business vein.

Walking on the bustling ancient cultural street during the Lantern Festival, the reporter found that the new consumption scenes on the old street were more than that.

At noon approaching, in the joint store between Xianghe Bread Shop and Tianhougong, many popular products are about to be out of stock, and the clerk is busy replenishing the goods. This Spring Festival, Xianghe Bunbao, a traditional palace dim sum brand that has inherited four generations, jointly launched a series of new products with the Forbidden City Culture and Tianjin Yangliuqing Painting Club. In addition, the old yogurt previously co-branded with Haihe Milk, and the "Ba Zhen Cake" and other products developed in cooperation with Tianjin Nankai Hospital, Xianghe Bunbao Store has become more popular.

"We have also carefully created stores to give customers more new consumption experiences." Wang Yanping, marketing director of Xianghe Baobao Shop, said that the freshly roasted roastery, coffee and Chinese desserts combined store, etc., they have created a combination of historical culture, trends, appearance and innovative experiences.

In Darentang Healthy Life Center, customers are consuming. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ran

In the Darentang Health Life Center not far away, the store manager’s assistant Zhang Li is introducing the newly launched winter and spring health tea to customers.

"In the past, we mainly sold Darentang medicines, but now we have upgraded to create more new scenes." Zhang Li said that customers can immerse themselves in the display of ancient books and recipes and production skills, and can also taste Chinese medicine health tea, health coffee and Chinese style desserts.

The 687-meter-long Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street, the main street, carries Tianjin's canal transportation, docks and folk customs and other cultures, and gathers into a business line that leads the trend of the times. The old craftsman Zhang and other people are inherited on this street, and the old brands such as Shibajie Mahua are continued on this street. There are also many new business forms and new scenarios to find a point of fit with the times here.

Zhang Hongpeng has a set of data that excited him and his colleagues. In 2024, the Ancient Culture Street received a total of 13.5 million tourists, a significant increase from previous years. At present, 60% of the business formats of Ancient Culture Street are cultural formats, which not only retains the "ancient flavor" but also extends the "new flavor".

"New consumption scenarios are adding new ideas to Tianjin's century-old business lineage and becoming a window for Tianjin to accelerate the construction of an international consumption center city. The Ancient Culture Street-Gulou area gathers valuable cultural resources and is the best place to understand the Tianjin culture and show the urban style. We will further expand cultural and consumption scenarios, stimulate regional development vitality, and accelerate the construction of distinctive cultural tourism destinations." said Ma Shanshan, Secretary of the Nankai District Party Committee of Tianjin.

After the busy Lantern Festival, the merchants on the ancient culture street still did not stop. Zhang Yuan said that Tianjin Port is planning to open a dedicated line from Ancient Culture Street to Dongjiang Bay Beach Scenic Area, so that tourists can experience the Tianjin Port industrial tourism project up close; Zhang Li's colleagues will devote themselves to the new round of product research and development with the same origin of medicine and food, and be busy for the next festival and festival.

"As a super-large city, Tianjin is just an observation point for the continuous expansion of new consumption scenarios. We feel the warmth of the New Year and are full of confidence in the future," said Wang Yanping. (Reporters Bai Jiali and Xu Siyu)