testcontainers
diff --git a/core/testcontainers/core/container.py b/core/testcontainers/core/container.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import contextlib
-import os
 from platform import system
 from typing import Optional
 
@@ -102,18 +101,18 @@ def get_container_host_ip(self) -> str:
         if host == "localnpipe" and system() == "Windows":
             return "localhost"
 
-        # check testcontainers itself runs inside docker container
-        if inside_container() and not os.getenv("DOCKER_HOST"):
-            # If newly spawned container's gateway IP address from the docker
-            # "bridge" network is equal to detected host address, we should use
-            # container IP address, otherwise fall back to detected host
-            # address. Even it's inside container, we need to double check,
-            # because docker host might be set to docker:dind, usually in CI/CD environment
-            gateway_ip = self.get_docker_client().gateway_ip(self._container.id)
-
-            if gateway_ip == host:
-                return self.get_docker_client().bridge_ip(self._container.id)
-            return gateway_ip
+        # # check testcontainers itself runs inside docker container
+        # if inside_container() and not os.getenv("DOCKER_HOST") and not host.startswith("http://"):
+        #     # If newly spawned container's gateway IP address from the docker
+        #     # "bridge" network is equal to detected host address, we should use
+        #     # container IP address, otherwise fall back to detected host
+        #     # address. Even it's inside container, we need to double check,
+        #     # because docker host might be set to docker:dind, usually in CI/CD environment
+        #     gateway_ip = self.get_docker_client().gateway_ip(self._container.id)
+
+        #     if gateway_ip == host:
+        #         return self.get_docker_client().bridge_ip(self._container.id)
+        #     return gateway_ip
         return host
 
     @wait_container_is_ready()

diff --git a/core/testcontainers/core/docker_client.py b/core/testcontainers/core/docker_client.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 import functools as ft
 import os
 import urllib
+from os.path import exists
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Optional, Union
 
 import docker
@@ -23,15 +25,8 @@
 from .utils import default_gateway_ip, inside_container, setup_logger
 
 LOGGER = setup_logger(__name__)
-
-
-def _stop_container(container: Container) -> None:
-    try:
-        container.stop()
-    except NotFound:
-        pass
-    except Exception as ex:
-        LOGGER.warning("failed to shut down container %s with image %s: %s", container.id, container.image, ex)
+TC_FILE = ".testcontainers.properties"
+TC_GLOBAL = Path.home() / TC_FILE
 
 
 class DockerClient:
@@ -40,7 +35,13 @@ class DockerClient:
     """
 
     def __init__(self, **kwargs) -> None:
-        self.client = docker.from_env(**kwargs)
+        docker_host = read_tc_properties().get("tc.host")
+
+        if docker_host:
+            LOGGER.info(f"using host {docker_host}")
+            self.client = docker.DockerClient(base_url=docker_host)
+        else:
+            self.client = docker.from_env(**kwargs)
 
     @ft.wraps(ContainerCollection.run)
     def run(
@@ -123,3 +124,33 @@ def host(self) -> str:
             if ip_address:
                 return ip_address
         return "localhost"
+
+
+@ft.cache
+def read_tc_properties() -> dict[str, str]:
+    """
+    Read the .testcontainers.properties for settings. (see the Java implementation for details)
+    Currently we only support the ~/.testcontainers.properties but may extend to per-project variables later.
+
+    :return: the merged properties from the sources.
+    """
+    tc_files = [item for item in [TC_GLOBAL] if exists(item)]
+    if not tc_files:
+        return {}
+    settings = {}
+
+    for file in tc_files:
+        tuples = []
+        with open(file) as contents:
+            tuples = [line.split("=") for line in contents.readlines() if "=" in line]
+            settings = {**settings, **{item[0]: item[1] for item in tuples}}
+    return settings
+
+
+def _stop_container(container: Container) -> None:
+    try:
+        container.stop()
+    except NotFound:
+        pass
+    except Exception as ex:
+        LOGGER.warning("failed to shut down container %s with image %s: %s", container.id, container.image, ex)