Porcelain House (Chifeng Road)

　　The Porcelain House (Chifeng Road) is a must-visit for every tourist coming to Tianjin. It is a French-style building decorated with tens of thousands of antique porcelain pieces.

　　Designed personally by the owner of the Porcelain House, Zhang Lianzhi, it is hailed as a priceless “Museum of Ancient Chinese Porcelain.”

　　The porcelain and shards used in the Porcelain House span from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Kilns include not only the Five Famous Kilns but also Longquan Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln, and others. Nearly all types of official and folk kiln porcelain from across China can be found here.

　　Over 400 million antique porcelain shards, more than 5,000 ancient porcelain vases, over 4,000 ancient porcelain plates and bowls, more than 20 tons of crystals and agates, over 400 pieces of white marble carvings, and nearly 100 porcelain cat pillows have transformed a French-style building into an invaluable porcelain house. Even the outdoor drainpipes are wrapped with porcelain shards, crystals, and Ming-Qing dynasty porcelain cat pillows.

　　Tianjin has a unique charm. Of course, this charm is not just about the fragrant Goubuli buns or the comedic art of xiangsheng (cross-talk). For instance, there are also Tianjin’s distinctive little Western-style houses. The former concessions of nine countries—France, the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and others—made Tianjin a museum of international architecture.

　　Now, Tianjin has added a new flavor: a uniquely Chinese, irreplicable Museum of Ancient Porcelain — the Porcelain House.

　　People say that inlaying hundreds of millions of precious antique porcelain shards onto an old building is an act of utter madness — so they simply call this house the “Crazy Porcelain House.”

　　Calling this house crazy is not without reason. In 2005, a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white large jar was auctioned in London for 235 million yuan. The owner of the house, Zhang Lianzhi, used priceless Yuan and Ming blue-and-white, as well as Ming wucai porcelain shards, to decorate the house just like bricks and tiles. Can you say he’s not crazy?

　　The Porcelain House is located at No. 72 Chifeng Road, Heping District, Tianjin (now a commercial center in Tianjin). It is a French-style building with over 100 years of history. The Porcelain House has five floors in total, with the main building consisting of the upper and lower levels. Behind it is a four-story rectangular building, with two approximately 200-square-meter wing rooms on either side, bringing the total floor area to over 3,000 square meters.

　　The site where the Porcelain House now stands was originally called Governor’s Street, where generals and military governors once lived. Dignitaries such as General Zhang Xueliang and Duan Qirui had residences here. Research indicates that the original owner of the Porcelain House was a central finance minister. After the liberation, the Heping District Administration for Industry and Commerce of Tianjin began operating here. When the administration moved to a new location, the site remained vacant for a long time due to disrepair.

　　In September 2002, introduced by relevant parties, Mr. Zhang Lianzhi, President of Cantonese Fresh Cultural Industry Investment Group, purchased the building at great expense. Due to the long history of the structure, many parts were decayed or collapsed. To preserve and repurpose the building, Zhang Lianzhi began large-scale renovation: apart from reinforcing the exterior structure, the interior was gutted and strengthened. In response to government directives, the flat roof was changed to a pointed roof, and the original plain red-brick wing rooms were transformed into transparent glass rooms. Then began the work of affixing antique porcelain shards. The project faced many initial challenges, as it was undertaken without any blueprint. The designer, Mr. Zhang Lianzhi, who is president of Cantonese Fresh Cultural Industry Group, had no background in design or architecture. Relying entirely on his passion for art, he proceeded step by step through trial and error. Initially, the porcelain shards were repeatedly applied and removed. But as Zhang’s vision matured, the progress accelerated, and the results became increasingly spectacular.

　　To date, the Porcelain House project has been ongoing for five years. Rough estimates show that over 400 million antique porcelain shards (mainly from the Song and Yuan Dynasties’ Jun porcelain, along with smaller amounts of Ru, Ding, and Longquan kiln porcelain, covering all categories of official and folk kilns) have been used, along with more than 5,000 ancient porcelain bottles (including Tang Sancai, Yuan blue-and-white, Ming blue-and-white, Ming wucai, Qing blue-and-white, Qing famille rose, Qing enamel colors, and Qing wucai), over 4,000 ancient porcelain plates and bowls (from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties), more than 500 porcelain cats (mainly from the Ming and Qing Cizhou kiln), porcelain birds (Ming Sancai), over 300 stone lions (white marble lions from the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming periods, mostly official items with diverse designs comparable to those of the Lugou Bridge), one Qing Dynasty colored glaze lion (a female lion, nearly two meters tall, lifelike, well-proportioned, intact, and considered a unique piece), over 300 Buddha statues (mostly white marble, mainly from the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Eastern Wei, Tang, and Song dynasties), small porcelain figures (Liao Dynasty Sancai), stone elephants (Ming Dynasty), stone carvings of “Wumiao” (Ming Dynasty), over 200 paintings and calligraphy works by ancient, modern, and foreign artists (including domestic artists such as Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang from the Tang Dynasty, Liang Kai and Su Shi from the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji, Chen Lin, and Qian Xuan from the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Hongshou from the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Da and Ma Yuanyu from the Qing Dynasty, as well as modern artists like Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, and Xu Beihong; international artists include Da Vinci, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Dalí), hundreds of pieces of furniture from the Ming and Qing periods (such as Ming Dynasty gates with mineral pigments, Ming large hemp-gray doors, chairs, tables, Huanghuali wood desks, chairs, and mahogany furniture), stone carvings (such as a Ming Dynasty white marble stone coffin and Song Dynasty white marble stone statues), over 20 tons of natural crystal stones (including amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, and clear quartz), with a total investment of over 2 billion yuan.

　　The porcelain used in the Porcelain House spans from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Kilns include not only the Five Famous Kilns but also Longquan Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln, and others. Nearly all types of official and folk kiln porcelain from China can be found here, although some pieces are chipped or have been drilled, resembling the “Venus de Milo of the East.”

　　Documentary Evidence:

　　At the 2002 Sotheby’s Spring Auction in Hong Kong, a Yongzheng famille rose bat-and-peach-patterned olive jar sold for 41.5 million HKD, setting the highest auction price for Qing Dynasty porcelain.

　　At the same year’s Autumn Auction by Christie’s Hong Kong, a Yongzheng enamel-painted plate with plum and bamboo designs and poetic inscriptions sold for over 32 million HKD.

　　At an auction in Beijing in 2002, a Qianlong famille rose landscape porcelain vase with ruyi handles sold for over 11 million RMB, setting the highest price for domestic porcelain.

　　At the 2005 Christie’s London auction, a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white large jar sold for 15.688 million GBP (approximately 235 million RMB), setting a world record for Chinese art auctions.

　　At the 2005 Christie’s New York auction, a Longquan celadon piece sold for 3,188,912 RMB.

　　On October 23, 2005, a Qing Qianlong imperial enamel-painted double-eared vase sold for 115.48 million HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Autumn Auction.

　　On October 23, 2005, a Qing Qianlong blue-and-white double-eared flat pot sold for 36,336,800 RMB at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

　　A Ming Yongle blue-and-white dragon-and-phoenix patterned lobed washbasin sold for 26.383759 million HKD at Christie’s Hong Kong.

　　A Song Dynasty Cizhou kiln carved brown-glazed bottle sold for 13.50375 million HKD at Christie’s Hong Kong.

　　At the 2006 Christie’s auction, a Qing Qianlong enamel-painted porcelain bowl sold for a sky-high price of 150 million RMB.

　　Time Needed for Visit

　　1–2 hours

　　Transportation

　　15 minutes' walk from Liaoning Road Snack Street; 10 minutes' walk from getting off at the Concert Hall or Xiaoyingmen on Machangdao; or take bus No. 831, 838, 35, 9, or 1 to Shandong Road Station and walk about 160 meters to reach the destination.

　　Admission Ticket

　　The ticket price is 50 RMB (children under 1.2 meters, seniors over 80 years old, people with disabilities, and active-duty military officers are exempt from admission). Students with valid ID and visitors with a Tianjin household registration can enjoy a discounted price of 30 RMB upon presenting their original ID card.

　　Opening Hours

　　9:00–18:00

　　Location

　　No. 72, Chifeng Road, Heping District, Tianjin

　　Address: No. 72, Chifeng Road, Heping District

　　Tel: 27123366

The Porcelain House (Chifeng Road) is aAAA-rated attraction