Minyuan Stadium 民园体育场

About Minyuan Stadium

Its association with Olympic runner and missionary Eric Liddell connects the site with the city's international sporting history. After redevelopment, it reopened in 2014 as a public square, changing from a place mainly for spectators into a space for everyday leisure. It works particularly well as a pause within the Five Avenues: the open ground provides a contrast to the enclosed gardens and villa façades on neighboring streets.

The stadium was first built in 1920 by the Tianjin British Concession Council (工部局), between what were then Singapore Road and Cambridge Road, today Dali Road and Chongqing Road. It hosted an international athletics meet (万国田径运动会) and other sporting events during the concession era, and after 1949 it was used for football and related sports over a long period; briefly, after the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, it also housed people displaced by the disaster.

Eric Liddell, working as a missionary in Tianjin, helped build the stadium in 1926, modelling it on Stamford Bridge in London, his favourite athletics venue. With a capacity of about 18,000, it hosted the home matches of Tianjin Teda F.C. until the TEDA Football Stadium opened in 2004.

During the 21st-century renewal of the Five Avenues historic area, the venue was converted from a dedicated sports ground into open public space; the renovation retained the original stand structures and facade, and the overall layout was not substantially altered. The stadium was closed for a two-year remodeling starting in 2012.

What to look for

• The former stadium's open central space, now used as a public square.
• The relationship between the large sports ground and the surrounding Five Avenues residential streets.

Location & getting there

Getting to Minyuan Stadium

Use Minyuan Square at 83 Chongqing Road in Heping; the old name Minyuan Stadium still appears on maps.

• Choose the Chongqing Road side when combining the square with a walk through the Five Avenues.