Tianjin

Today I took a trip to Tianjin, a coastal a city located directly to the east of Beijing.  The trip from Beijing to Tianjin is a very short one because of the bullet train that connects the two cities.  The train opened in August of 2008, and when it opened it became the fastest passenger train in the world, with a maximum speed of 330km/h (205mph).  The train ride was very comfortable and took less than 30 minutes.

Tianjin is located right on the coast and is one of the fastest growing cities in China.  The population is just over 13 million, and we chose to walk around the city for the entire day.  It is the sixth largest city in China, but it actually did not feel very big.  The city itself is large, but this is the first time in China that I didn’t see a lot of people.  While walking around I noticed that the streets did not have many cars and there really weren’t that many people walking around.  Considering that it has 13 million people, I was extremely surprised by how few I saw and how quiet the city was.

Walking around the entire city of Tianjin was no small task, and by the end of the day my legs were sorer than they have been in a long time.  I think that is the most I have walked in one day, and since the weather was not very warm and windy, it was not that enjoyable.  Despite the amount of walking I did I enjoyed everything that I saw in Tianjin.  Tianjin is quickly growing and most of the area next to the water is new.  Skyscrapers and other attractions line middle of the city and this was the first time I have seen European buildings in China.  There is a strong European presence in this city, and many of the buildings are evidence of this.

We ventured into the newer parts of the city, exploring one of the largest pedestrian shopping malls I have ever scene.  Next I saw the ancient part of Tianjin, walking up and down it’s cultural street and also viewing areas where the Chinese can pay homage to their ancestors.  After that we went to look at the Italian area, which is like little Italy in the middle of the city.  About three square blocks were covered with Italian restaurants and other items representing Italy.  In this area we also saw numerous couples that recently got married and all of them were taking their wedding pictures.  This was actually a common scene throughout Tianjin, and I would guess that I saw over 50 couples wearing their wedding clothes and taking pictures all over the city.  My favorite part was when we walked by a couple taking their wedding pictures and they quickly told the photographer to wait.  The woman ran out and wanted to take a picture with us and shortly afterward the man did as well.  I must be doing something right if people taking their wedding photos would rather take them with me than their partner.

An instance similar to this occurred earlier in the day when we visited a building covered entirely in Chinese ceramics.  (If your keeping score I have now willingly gone to a Chinese opera, museum, and ceramics display. And yes I am slightly surprised by this as well.) This in itself was an interesting thing to see but while we were taking a group picture there a Chinese tourist bus arrived and as soon as they saw us every person began taking pictures of us.  Within seconds, two guys rushed into the picture to join us.  After that it didn’t take long until everyone wanted to do the same thing, and after a few minutes we finally told everyone that we were done taking pictures.

Overall I enjoyed my trip to Tianjin, especially since the train ride there was so fast and comfortable.  We did get scammed a few times, once at the ceramic house because we paid to go inside and there really was nothing inside of it, and twice at restaurants. I doubt that I will be making a trip back there because the city doesn’t have as much to offer as Beijing, but it is a very nice city and I enjoyed how quiet it was there.  It is amazing to think that a city of 13 million people could be described as quiet and able to be covered on foot, but that is exactly how it was.  I guess if you live in a country with 1.3 billion people a city with 13 million is relatively small.