Located in Tianjin’s leading commercial street, the building holds a special place in the hearts of local residents as an iconic city landmark that bore witness to key eras in modern Chinese history. Designed by Shen Liyuan, who was among the first batch of Chinese architects to study overseas, it housed the Zhejiang Xinye Bank till the early 1950s, and was a symbol of the city’s economic prosperity and development. In the 1980s, the early days of China’s economic transformation, it reopened as the high end Yongzheng Tailor Shop before becoming the Xinye Foreign Trade Mall. It was officially designated as a city heritage site in 1997, but has been left vacant for the past two decades, a cultural gem waiting to rediscover its glorious past.
The building is worth seeing not only from the outside and provides comfy seating for a break from touring the city. The assortment is pretty Starbucks standard (except maybe for few special coffees) with an extension to alcoholic drinks- worth a visit for the architecture and atmosphere rather than the 'Reserve' story.