When people think of Tianjin, their minds often jump straight to the delicious street food or the stunning foreign-style buildings that line the streets. But the real souvenirs one can tuck into a bag and take home — the ones that carry the city's true spirit — are two of its most famous intangible cultural heritage items: Yangliuqing New Year woodblock prints and Niren Zhang clay figurines.
To explore both in one trip, head straight to Ancient Culture Street along the Haihe River. This charming street is lined with houses with green-tiled roofs and wooden signboards, and shops dedicated to traditional Tianjin-style handicrafts.
The most iconic stop is Yangliuqing Arts Store, a shop that has been operating for decades. Inside, you will immediately spot classic images that have been beloved for centuries: the legendary demon hunter Zhong Kui with his bushy beard, the God of Wealth, chubby babies holding a giant carp, and elegant beauties from ancient stories.
During the Spring Festival holiday, families often hang a picture of Zhong Kui at their front door to chase away evil spirits and bring good fortune, and display a picture of a baby with a carp to represent wishes for abundance and prosperity.
Yangliuqing New Year paintings originated during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and flourished in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Every Spring Festival, families would buy them to decorate their homes, hoping for a bright and lucky new year.
The technique combines woodblock printing with hand-painting, resulting in warm, rich colors that have become a symbol of Tianjin's culture.
As the store manager Wang Yan explains, the shop sees long lines just before Chinese New Year, with locals coming to buy pictures for their homes. On regular days, however, young people are the main customers.
The store continuously launches trendy new products, including book-sized door-god magnets, fun blind boxes featuring characters from New Year paintings, and refrigerator magnets adorned with cute gods and playful wishes such as "May you have both good health and good luck".
Prices range from a few dozen yuan for these cute little items to thousands of yuan for hand-painted masterpieces.
If you want to get your hands dirty, the store has a workshop where you can try woodblock printing and coloring, creating your very own New Year picture.
On weekends, inheritors of this ancient craft come to demonstrate the whole production process and share the rich stories behind each image.
If Yangliuqing paintings freeze good luck on paper, then Niren Zhang figurines freeze the everyday lives of people in clay.
On the street, visitors can find several stores, but the most famous one is run by Zhang Yu, a descendant of Zhang Mingshan (1826-1906) who became famous by combining traditional Chinese clay figurine techniques with Western aesthetics.
