At the three-pronged intersection at dawn, thousands of masts gather.

On December 23, 1404, Tianjin, which prospered due to the grain transport, officially established its defense and city walls, leaving a rare exact record of the city's founding in ancient Chinese history. The busy transportation brought prosperity to commerce and trade, which continued into modern times after the port was opened for business, making Tianjin the most bustling industrial and commercial city in northern China.

620 years later today, Tianjin is driven by promoting high-level opening up to the outside world, guided by the cultivation and construction of an international consumer center city. By revitalizing the existing stock, nurturing incremental growth, and enhancing quality (hereinafter referred to as the "three quantities"), it has awakened many sleeping historical buildings and created new types of consumer scenarios.

As "business, travel, culture, competition, and performance" are injected into the spatial layout of "circles, streets, buildings, stores, and networks," Tianjin's "tourists" are gradually becoming "customers," and "traffic" is gradually becoming "retention," further revealing the economic engine role of consumption.

Taking this year's "Eleven" holiday as an example, Tianjin received a total of 18.377 million tourists, an increase of 2.2528 million compared to the total number of tourists received during the 2023 National Day holiday, a growth of 14.0%; tourist spending was 16.678 billion yuan, a 36.9% increase compared to the 2023 National Day holiday.

Revitalizing the existing stock: Old spaces activate new consumer scenarios.

In the golden autumn season, at the large copper coin square in the Jin jie（St） business district of Tianjin, young men and women dressed in Republic of China costumes laugh heartily, set against the surrounding century-old modern buildings, giving people a sense of time travel — fragments of the classic work Sunrise by Tianjin playwright Cao Yu are being performed immersively here.

In a corner of the square, the former Zhejiang Xingye Bank building, built in the early 1920s, exudes the fragrance of coffee. The world's coffee chain brand Starbucks has its first flagship store in Tianjin here, which has now become an internet celebrity check-in spot.

"The store integrates coffee, alcohol, and tea drinks, creating a new consumption space full of humanistic feelings. In addition, many dramas and quyi performances are held on our second-floor terrace during the 'Eleven' period. Many tourists come into the store to become consumers while watching, further driving sales performance to climb." said the store manager, Li Jie.

Li Jie is a local of Tianjin. She grew up shopping on Jin jie（St） and now works here. She has a lot of feelings for this commercial pedestrian street. She said, watching a building that was "beautiful but mysterious" in her childhood memory being revitalized into a distinctive commercial carrier, she is more confident in the development of her hometown.

The former Traffic Hotel, just across the street from Starbucks, is also a landmark building in the Jin jie（St） business district. It is located in the golden section of passenger flow but has also been dim for a while. In October 2023, it welcomed a new owner - Huawei's Tianjin flagship store. The century-old history and cutting-edge technology intersect and collide, creating a spark of "consumption upgrade." The store manager said, "Since the store opened, the cumulative sales have exceeded 100 million yuan, and the cumulative number of visitors has exceeded 800,000."

Moreover, the Quanyechang, which enjoys the reputation of "if you don't visit Quanyechang, it's a waste to come to Tianjin," will also start comprehensive construction and renovation recently...

Zheng Zheng, a partner of the Tianjin Heping Impression City project, said that since its opening, the passenger flow of Heping Impression City has reached 16 million, with sales of 713 million yuan, introducing about 150 merchants, and the proportion of first stores exceeding 60%.

In order to turn "popularity and traffic" into "consumer retention," Tianjin has issued and implemented the Tianjin Urban Renewal Action Plan (2023-2027) and formulated the "Further Action Plan for Doing a Good Job in Revitalizing Asset in the Commercial Field." It has focused on the renewal of commercial carriers for many years and held key commercial project investment promotion meetings to encourage various investment entities to participate in the transformation and utilization of idle assets.

In addition to transforming old business districts, Tianjin has also given full play to the symbolic attributes and memory characteristics of old factory buildings and other industrial heritage resources, creating new consumer fields.

A century ago, the factories, chimneys, docks, and cargo stations on both sides of the Haihe River promoted the industrial development of modern Tianjin. The glory of many "old factory buildings" was fixed in the past but did not exit the historical stage. They "transformed" into cultural industry parks and creative towns, rejuvenating.

Walking into the Tianjin Mian San Creative Block (formerly Tianjin Cotton Spinning Factory No. 3) on the east bank of the Haihe River, creative study rooms, cafes, art venues, and other cultural and artistic activities such as the Haihe River used book market and outdoor music concerts are continuously brilliant.

"By shaping the 'Mian 3' IP with history, culture, stories, and scenes, it is becoming an important post station on the 'new consumption corridor' along the Haihe River and a new engine for the city's cultural and creative industry." Chen Qiang, General Manager of Tianjin Mian San Creative Enterprise Management Service Co., Ltd., said that since this year, the block has attracted more than 3 million visitors.

Many tourists also feel the impact of "old and new collision" at the Tianjin Jinmao Hui, which was once the first thermal power plant in Tianjin. The coal hoppers, trusses, crane beams, and other industrial elements retained inside the mall are eye-catching. The industrial style of "repairing the old as the old, and the old and new coexist" in the mall has allowed a batch of Tianjin first stores and regional first stores to settle here. By gathering consumer popularity, it has brought new vitality to the old factory buildings.

Cage replacement, more and more upgrading and transformation projects are being launched in Tianjin. According to the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, as of the end of September this year, Tianjin has revitalized 18 commercial facilities held by social capital and 525,600 square meters of idle area in commercial buildings.

Sun Jianan, Director of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that by transforming and upgrading and introducing a new management mechanism, historical buildings, old factory buildings, old streets, and other idle carriers have been "transformed" into creative commercial and cultural tourism carriers and consumption landmarks, which have bloomed in many places in the city, effectively driving consumption and enhancing the city's fashion vitality.

Cultivating incremental growth: "Old business" superimposes new consumer trends.

From "online" to "offline", on the Nankai  Nan Lu(Rd) in Tianjin, the naked-eye 3D large screen attracts the attention of passers-by - a business building that has been idle for many years has now become the JD MALL super experience store. Walking into its spacious interior, interactive scenes such as family game areas, e-sports experience areas, and home theater areas are arranged in order, and the slogan "old for new, 4 heavy subsidies" attracts many families to consume.

Wu Mengkang, Deputy General Manager of JD Five Stars Electric Appliance (Tianjin) Group Co., Ltd., introduced that JD has increased promotional investment around service scenarios such as new house packages, whole house customization, old house renovation, and kitchen micro-renovation. "Especially new categories of home appliances such as sweeping robots, dishwashers, and water purifiers have received unexpected popularity. With the superimposed national subsidy discounts, the store's average daily passenger flow during the 'Eleven' period has exceeded 20,000 people, and the proportion of residents' shopping subsidies has reached 18.3%, with sales volume increasing by 5 to 10 times."

Since China launched the consumer goods old for new campaign, Tianjin has seized policy opportunities, formulated detailed implementation plans, and built activity platforms, setting off a wave of car energy replacement, home appliance intelligence replacement, and home decoration and kitchen and bathroom renewal, helping traditional business "upgrade."

At a BYD 4S store located in Beichen , Tianjin, the "car replacement subsidy" and other promotional activity announcements are displayed on the screen. "The public's enthusiasm for car replacement is very high," said Wang Zhangang, the general manager of the store. Since October, the store has received more than 150 car orders, with a replacement ratio of over 51%.

At Suning Easy Purchase in Tianjin, they work with brand factories, financial institutions, and others to promote consumption, with up to 40% discounts on goods traded in for new ones. Ms. Zhang, a citizen of Tianjin, selected a refrigerator worth nearly 5,000 yuan at a Suning Easy Purchase store. The merchant subsidized nearly 500 yuan, and the government subsidized over 800 yuan. "The price is very affordable, and the electronic invoice is issued in seconds. It's a very pleasant shopping experience."

Wang Jian, Marketing Director of the Hebei Branch of Tianjin's Qidianjia, said that merchants participating in the old-for-new program have seen a sales increase of over 20% recently, with a significant increase in sales of smart bathroom and smart sofa home products.

According to statistics from the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, so far, a total of 270,000 consumers have received subsidy qualifications on the Tianjin consumer goods old-for-new subsidy platform. A total of 250,000 subsidized home appliance and home goods have been sold online and offline, with 220 million yuan in subsidy funds issued, directly driving sales of home appliance and home goods by 1.18 billion yuan. A total of more than 44,000 applications for car scrapping and replacement updates have been received, driving car sales to exceed 5.7 billion yuan.

Other commercial complexes continue to create eye-catching consumer "incremental hotspots" on the basis of existing formats, scenes, and models.

Tianjin's Hang Lung Plaza, invested and operated by Hang Lung Properties Limited, is built near the Haihe River, with a very fashionable curved glass curtain wall facade design, resembling a giant sailboat standing. "In recent years, we have co-hosted cross-border activities with the Tianjin Zoo and innovatively launched a 'play IP and shopping experience combination' model with Tianjin Happy Valley, creating a new consumer scene that is diverse in choice and rich in emotion, integrating business and travel." said the person in charge. Thanks to the abundant passenger flow, Tianjin Hang Lung Plaza has introduced 119 new brands since 2023, and the rental rate of mall shops has increased to 94%.

Outdoor sports have also become a platform for many shopping malls to attract customers. Outside the Hang Lung shopping mall, fun volleyball games have attracted many customers, and the newly opened South Korean yoga wear brand Jacksi inside the mall has also benefited from this. "This activity has brought us many customers. Since opening, the store has achieved sales performance of more than 500,000 yuan, and consumers have a high acceptance and purchasing power for international new brands," said Xie Xin, the brand manager of the store.

It is understood that in order to bring more trendy experiences to consumers in the upgraded business districts, Tianjin has specifically introduced many famous consulting companies, domestic and foreign business associations, leading operators, and brand merchants to inject new consumer scenes into traditional commercial carriers.

In June this year, the Geely Building, located on Binjiang Lu(Rd), made a new appearance. This once traditional old department store accelerated the replacement of scenes and became the first vertical commercial body in Tianjin focusing on the second-element culture, creating a 24-hour "non-stop" trend scene. The Yuelichang, Wanghai International, and Hangu Yishang Friendship and other commercial projects under transformation and upgrading are expected to be launched between 2025 and 2027, which will inject new momentum into the construction of Tianjin as an international consumer center city.

Improving quality: New projects build new dimensions of consumption.

As the night falls, music fills the Italian Style Zone in Tianjin, and many tourists take out their mobile phones to take pictures in front of a three-story red brick building. This is the newly opened Zhongshuge Tianjin store.

Walking into it, the lobby composed of full-height glass facades and dark blue steps, and the spiral escalator are full of design. Many book friends enjoy the pleasure of "reading" in a reading environment that is both visually impactful and full of cultural connotations.

"Since the bookstore opened to the public on September 30, the passenger flow has exceeded 200,000 person-times. During the National Day period, nearly 7,000 books were sold, and many consumers also chose cultural and creative products and coffee," said Wang Haibo, the store manager of Zhongshuge Tianjin. The positioning of Zhongshuge is not just a bookstore, but through its unique charm and social attributes, it has become a "cultural living room" in the city, helping to enhance the city's style.

Joseph W. Polisi, the retired dean of the Juilliard School in New York, came here the other day to pick two Chinese books for his grandson who is learning Chinese. "I promised him a gift before departure, and I happened to come to such a beautiful bookstore," Polisi said, hoping his grandson can understand the history and culture of China.