The 580-meter-long Ancient Culture Street and Tianhou Palace, the native place of Tianjin, are located in Nankai District. Some 100 shops, in the style of the arch itectures of the Qing Dynasty, are mainly engaged in sales of ancient and old books, antiques, jade articles, traditional handicrafts and folk articles, Special shops in the street sell folk arts such as Yangliuqing New Year pictures, painted clay figurines and Wei's kites. Tianhou Palace, also known as Niangniang Palace, was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1326) and is now located at the center of the Ancient Cultural Street. Formerly, it was a place where boatmen offered sacrifices to the God of Sea, conducted performances for thanking the God and held recreational activities and got together with friends and now it has been turned into the Tianjin Folk museum.
