As Tianjin is the earliest and largest costal city in northern China, it is the place where the north met the south, where the foreigners and the Chinese coexisted. It was also where the economy boomed and market prospered as well as a close neighbor of Beijing. When many Chinese patriotic generals, important government and military officials, old and young remnants of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese and foreign industrialists and celebrated people settled in Tianjin, the Five Roads area was their first choice.
The above mentioned people built up garden villas, high-standard apartments and in-lane residences, which formed concentrated western style villas in the area. As a result, the Five Roads area is crowned as an "exposition of world architectures", where buildings reflect both the Western and Chinese architectural thoughts at that time – Western classical style, Medieval style, Baroque eclectic style, Modern style, Chinese-Western combined style and various new decoration styles. According to investigation from Tianjin Municipal Land, Resources and Housing Administrative Bureau, there are more than 400 historic building in the area.
Historic buildings in the area consist completely of a residential function and advanced planning concept. The 1920s was a time when the British "garden city" planning theory prevailed. The Five Roads area was guided and built under the theory. Accordingly, the general design was rational, the living environment was comfortable and the road net and the auxiliary facilities were perfect, turning the area into a gracious and agreeable residential compound. As an example, no commercial center or shopping mall was planned and no public vehicle was given access to the area in order to guarantee the environment quality of the residential area.
