Guyi Street Guyi Street, a second-hand clothing street, is one of the oldest streets in Tianjin that can be traced in both history and modern municipal layout. It is located between the bustling Dong-bei-jiao and Bei-da-guan, narrower than 10 meters in width and stretching about 710 meters from east to west. The market took off from shell fabric, and soon extended to trades in silk, second-hand clothing, fashions, leather and furs, and even military uniforms. Even today, you can still sense its old-time glory from traces of some old stores with commodious shopfront and counters on both floors. Its primetime came in the 1930s when it became the trading centre for silk, cloth, fur, clothing, stationery, Chinese medicine and other daily commodities of North China. Some time-honored brands, including the food brand Laomaosheng and silk brands Qianxiangyi and Ruifaxiang , can still be found on the street. The former building of Qianxiangyi, built in 1917, was listed as a historical and cultural site by Tianjin’s municipal government. It is now a tea shop and venue for crosstalk performance. In 1986, Guyi Street was renovated with its historical features retained. Stores lined on both sides of the street were decorated with palace lanterns, shop signs and other ornaments, their golden horizontal inscribed board lit and shining at night. The area from Guyi Street to the present Guangyinhao Bank is also known as Guanyinhao, referring to a flourishing business centre. But Guanyinhao itself is a financial institution founded by Qing authority in 1900 to restore balance in financial markets. It was the first government-owned financial institution in China, which not only issued silver dollars and bank notes, but also took charge of provincial treasury. In 2004, Tianjin Commercial Bank (now Bank of Tianjin ) rebuilt Guanyinhao on its original site with the help of the old photos.The new magnificent prospect signifies that Tianjin is being revived into another modern financial centre of China.