Hongqiao District is one of the downtowns in Tianjin . Located in the northwest of the city, adjacent to the Nankai, Beichen , Hebei and Xiqing the four Districts, with its 6 kilometers length from west to east and 5.6 kilometers width from north to south , Hongqiao covers an area of 21.3 square kilometers. There are 10 Community Office s and 561.6 thousand people in the District. In history it was near the sea and called “the lower reaches of many rivers”. The Ziya River , the South Grand Canal, and the North Grand Canal meet the Haihe River in the Sancha Estuary and form the unique geography. And “Hongqiao” was given the name because of the ancient red bridge that had been in the District.

Brilliant and rich history and culture

Hongqiao District was the cradleland of Tianjin . The Sancha Estuary where the Ziya River , the South Grand Canal, and the North Grand Canal meet was the water transport hub, the Capital portal and the important place of water transport transfer. The flourishing time was recorded in a famous painting in the Qing Dynasty. In 1400, the Ming Dynasty, the Yan King Zhu Di led the troops crossing the Zhigu (present Beidaguan area), went southward and won Cangzhou. Later on in 1404, Zhigu was fortified with a wall and city and was given the name “ Tianjin ” (namely the river where the King had crossed). There was a memorial archway built in the place where the troops crossed. Hongqiao is the commerce cradle of Tianjin . The well-established Guyijie, Beidaguan and Dahutong are still excellent and the most typical ancient commercial streets. And Hongqiao is the cradle of mechanical foundry industry in Tianjin and the industrial cradle in the North China . Hongqiao is also China and Tianjin modern education's cradle. And the first national modern University—Beiyang University, the first government secondary school in Tianjin—the Tianjin Government Secondary School (commonly known as the Lingdangge Middle School) and the first government primary school in Tianjin—the Hebei Dasi Primary School were all located here. Furthermore, Hongqiao has been the place where the elegant culture flourished. There was a famous private garden Shuixizhuang, established in the Qing Dynasty in 1723, where the literati from all over China used to get together and Qianlong, the 6 th King in the Qing Dynasty, had been for four times. And in the beautiful Peach Garden , the place that Qianlong had visited is still kept.

Convenient and smooth traffic

The Tianjin-Pukou Railway crossing Hongqiao District is one artery in China railway network and the West Railway Station Expansion Project located in the District has been brought into the Eleventh Five-year Development Planning. The Station is to be built as the largest passenger traffic hub in central Tianjin, and it will integrate the high speed rail, passenger special line, normal speed rail, long-distance, rail transit and public traffic into a whole, furthermore, it is the traffic artery to connect the Tianjin-Pukou Railway and the Beijing-Shanhaiguan Railway. Besides, there are three highways—the Tianjin-Beijing, the Tianjin-Baoding and the Tianjin-Yongan in the District, connecting Tianjin and Beijing , Hebei , Shanxi , Henan , etc. The North-crossing Expressway, the West-crossing Expressway, the Northwest Semi-ring Expressway, the Subway Line 1, etc. in total a dozen lines in the District form the convenient and smooth traffic network.

Decisive river resources advantage

Hongqiao District is the source of Haihe River . The Ziya River , the South Grand Canal and the North Grand Canal in the District are in the upper stream of the Haihe River System, thus it has decisive river resources advantage. During the Eleventh Five-year Development, the Tianjin Haihe River comprehensive development and transformation must be advanced to the upper stream and thus there will be a lot of opportunities.

Rich land resources to develop

Based on the urban planning and demolition, Hongqiao District energetically advances the development and construction in the Guanshang, Guanxia and Xiaohuoxiang areas, the four residential areas including the Shuixizhuang block in south of Xigu, the West Railway Station front & the Xiyuzhuang block, the Jinshanjiao, Dahutong and the Aihuali, Dahutong, etc., the blocks of Shaogongzhuang, the 51 Middle School, Lingdangge, the west of the Beiping-Tianjin Campaign Memorial and the two sides of Guangrong Road. The planning construction area is about 6 square kilometers. These are valuable resources for overall planning, layout and sustainable development & construction in Hongqiao District.

The future development direction

In the next few years, with the regional economic development strategy “city construction-driven, three strengthened and two optimized”, Hongqiao District will be constructed as the important traffic and business center, business collection & distribution center and ecological downtown fit for living and e ntrepreneurship in Tianjin . It is planned to prioritize the construction of one center, two integrated economic belts, three green ecological channels and six functional zones, namely the West Railway Station Traffic and Business Center, the Guangrong Road Integrated Economic Belt and the Qinjian Road Integrated Economic Belt, the Ziya River, the South Grand Canal and the North Grand Canal Green Ecological Channels, the TEDA COEX Functional Zone, the Dahutong Business Collection & Distribution Logistics Functional Zone, the Dafeng Road Modern Business Functional Zone, the Dingzigu Trade Service Functional Zone, the Xigu Cultural Tourism & Recreation Functional Zone and the Shuimutiancheng Business Service Functional Zone.

The West Railway Station Traffic and Business Center

The West Rail Station Transformation & Expansion Project has been brought into the Eleventh Five-year Development Planning. The total development area is 2.7 square kilometers. The Station is to be built as the largest passenger traffic hub in central Tianjin integrating the high speed rail, passenger special line, normal speed rail, long-distance, rail transit and public traffic into a whole . In the meanwhile, it is to be built as the modern traffic and business center integrating the top-grade business, recreation & entertainment, finance & insurance, logistics, retailing, hotels and goods trade collection & distribution into a whole.

The Guangrong Road Integrated Economic Belt

From Qianlidi in the west to Beiyangqiao in the east, in combination with the Tianjin municipal planning & construction of Guangrong Road and the local intellectual property advantage of colleges & universities and research institutions, based on the Beijing-Tianjin Metropolitan Coordinating Region and the large-scale pattern of Binhai New Area's development and opening, it is planned to construct the high-tech industrial parks and the matching modern service industry. Targeting the scientific research and production consumption demand of the Beijing high-end consumers, the local colleges & universities and the future high-tech industrial parks, making the best of the around 130 hectors of planning land by the two sides of the traffic roads, it is planned to build with high standard the matching public building support and industrial clusters such as shopping, catering, recreation, business, exhibition, finance, hotel, etc..

The Qinjian Road Integrated Economic Belt

From the Hongqi Bridge , Hongqi Road in the south to the Qinjian Bridge in the north, it is planned to build the modern service industry integrating the business facilities, the waterfront platform landscape belt, the high-end recreation & entertainment landscape, the large-scale automobile city, the community service, the business dining & entertainment and the business & living into a whole. And based on the planning of the historical landscape the Peach Dike, it is planned to prioritize the development and construction of the historical culture & leisure tourism belt.

The Ziya River , the South Grand Canal and the North Grand Canal Green Ecological Channels

Brought forth by rivers and flourished with the banks and commerce, Hongqiao District has unique natural resources. In the next few years, based on the development planning, highlighting the natural and waterside ecological environment characteristics, it is planned to gradually build three recreation & tourism & livability-oriented green ecological landscape belts.

The TEDA COEX Functional Zone

Located in the Sancha Estuary, Hongqiao District, as the first node of Haihe River comprehensive development, TEDA Center covers 851, 000 m 2 of land, while its total construction area is 1.5 million m 2 and public building area is more than 600, 000 m 2 . It is planned to build, with the style combining the rich history & culture and the modern factor, a convention & exhibition functional zone integrating the culture review, tourism recreation, trade & business, convention & exhibition, finance & securities, stared hotels and high-end business-living buildings, etc, into a whole.

The Dahutong Trade Collection & Distribution Logistics Functional Zone

Based on its 500,000 m 2 of trade clusters, it is planned to build 260,000 m 2 of specialty wholesale trade buildings for medium-and-high goods and relative matching facilities, and make the area Tianjin 's logistics-type trade collection & distribution functional zone integrating trade, logistics and business into a whole. Characterized by small commodities collection & distribution and modern logistics, the area will be the unique zone with the wholesale and retail functions into a whole, and the zone with commerce & trade, business, mature matching service and smooth traffic.

The Dafeng Road Modern Business Functional Zone

With a total area of 42 hectares, its construction area is 700,000 m 2 . By virtue of the transformation & expansion of the West Railway Station, it is planned to build the modern business functional zone mainly involving office buildings, finance and business. And the zone is planned to reflect the canal characteristics.

The Dingzigu Trade Service Functional Zone

Based on the Kailaisai Commercial Building, the Pan-Ocean Building, the Great Stage, etc., in combination with the local dense population and location of research institutions, it is planned to prioritize the development of regional integrated commercial services to satisfy the residential consumption and university logistics services demand. Through development of catering services and business services, it is planned to form the unique functional zone mainly involving trade and integrated services.

The Xigu Cultural Tourism Recreation Functional Zone

With 550,000 m 2 of area and historical & cultural resources, based on the Xigu Park, , it is planned to develop and rebuild the Shuixizhuang Special Tourism Program which was once one of the Ten Landscapes in Tianjin and form the functional zone integrating culture, tourism and recreation into a whole.

The Shuimutiancheng Business Service Functional Zone

It is located at the intersection of Xianyang Road and Ziya River . With the local dense population, it is planned to prioritize the development of commercial services to satisfy the residential consumption demand and build public buildings of more than 400,000 m 2 including hotels, business-living buildings, catering and recreation facilities, etc. gradually forming the business service functional zone integrating catering, recreation, shopping and living into a whole.