Feng Jicai, safeguarding folk culture

　　In the 1990s China began large-scale urban construction, and Tianjin, like other big cities, ecame a huge construction site almost overnight. The municipal authorities decided to demolish entire old city districts. The old district covers 1.5 sq km , with a population of 100,000 and a history of nearly 600 years. All the houses were shabby, but intermingled with buildings of historical significance, such as the earliest telegraph bureau in China and the site of the founding of the Yihetuan (Boxer) Movement. Feng decided that the urgency of the matter called for a cultural investigation, which he conducted at his own expense.

Feng Jicai observing the inscription on a stele

　　In late 1994, photographers and history, architecture and folklore experts were called in by Feng to conduct a "carpet" investigation street by street. Wearing matching red vests and with cameras in their hands, they surveyed Tianjin's lanes and courtyards.. All the streets, their origins and positions, were recorded on a map of the old district. On the night of December 31, 1995, a photographer climbed to the top of Tianjin Hotel to take a panoramic night view picture of the old district. Feng said, "Seeing this photo almost brings me to tears, as the scene it reflected was soon to disappear. We could not rescue it, but were at least able to record it in a photo album."

　　Feng frequently published articles in newspapers, explaining his aims and beliefs to the local residents. He wrote, "Cultural relics and culture are two different concepts. Cultural relics refer to the historical buildings, mostly imperial and religious buildings, such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace in Beijing . But culture is more reflected in historical districts. Cultural relics are dead, but culture is living in the historical buildings. The state has formulated laws on protecting cultural relics, but not on protecting the cultural buildings of a city, which often reflect a city's individuality. A city without culture is a city without root."