Shi Family Grand Courtyard

First built in 1875, it covers over 6,000 square meters, including large and small yards and over 200 folk houses, a theater and over 275 rooms that served as apartments and places of business and worship for this powerful family.

As the wealth gradually accumulated, the Shi Family moved to Yangliuqing and bought large tracts of land and set up their residence.

Shi Yuanshi came from the fourth generation of the family, who was a successful businessman and a good household manager, and the residence was thus enlarged for several times until it acquired the present scale.

Today, the Shi mansion, located in the township of Yangliuqing to the west of central Tianjin, stands as a surprisingly well-preserved monument to China's pre-revolution mercantile spirit.

Part of the complex has been turned into the Yangliuqing Museum, which includes displays focused on symbolic aspects of the courtyards' construction, local folk art and customs, and traditional period furnishings and crafts.