Surely one of the country's most unusual buildings, Tianjin's Porcelain House is also known, fittingly enough, as the "China House" (Cí Fángzi, 鐡锋埧瀛).

Sitting on Chifeng Dao (Chìfēng Dào 赤峰道), every possible inch of the house's exterior is covered by a vibrant mosaic of porcelain pieces. The house is the brainchild of Tianjin native Zhang Lianzhi, who has found a truly novel way of exhibiting the extensive collection of ancient Chinese vases and other ceramics that he spent over 20 years collecting.

Experts claim the collection is worth RMB 2 billion, with the Porcelain House displaying over 5,000 ancient vases, 4,000 plates and more than 400 million fragments of antique pottery. Zhang believes he has given them a new lease of life, and allowed many more people the opportunity to appreciate them.

It was this same thinking that led him to open his other rather unorthodox museum in Tianjin, Yue Wei Xian (Yuè Wéi Xiān 粤唯鲜). A restaurant modeled after a museum, at Yue Xian Wei diners are surrounded by Zhang's private collection of thousands of cultural relics; bronze ware, sculptures, stone carvings and decorative screens from throughout the ages while tucking into quality Cantonese fare.

The Porcelain House serves as a museum of Chinese ceramics detailing the story and techniques behind the many different styles on display. With examples lining the walls of the restored 1920s French villa, it is a fascinating blend of western architecture and Chinese craft and certainly generates conversation around the meeting of the two.

Pretty much every significant era and famous kiln is represented, with the red star that sits on top of the spire made from fragments of a very rare Ming Dynasty crimson porcelain called "Jing Hong" that was used exclusively by the royal family.

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