(Thursday, March 3rd, 2016)
A few days ago I visited Tianjin. I thought it would be a 10 or 15 minute cab ride, since I thought I was already in Tianjin, but I was wrong. Tianjin was about 20 or 25 miles from Tanggu, maybe 45 minute cab ride. Next time I will take the train.
I had no real notion of what I wanted to see. Looking at a map of Tianjin I could see that there was a riverfront walk, so I made that my goal.
Tianjin is a large city, at least 5 million or so. It is also a municipality of about 13 million overall.
In the cab from Tanggu to Tianjin I saw many places at which there were clusters of tall apartment buildings. It didn’t seem that they were connected to a town, but rather that a developer decided to fully build on a spot of land. I assume that the communities are somewhat self-contained, with maybe some shops and services. I also assume that they are connected via public transport to jobs in Tanggu and Tianjin. I didn’t see the amount of cars that I would have expected if this many apartments were in the US (with the possible exceptions of San Francisco and New York City apartment buildings).
I saw hundreds of cranes working on new developments. “Hundreds” might be a significant understatement.
Also from the cab I saw many areas of new tree growth. It looked organized, in rows, like huge tree farms. I didn’t see any forests – any natural or old growth.
I got let off in downtown Tianjin, and started walking towards the river. It was cold out. Beanie, hood, gloves, all that. And it was polluted. At least to me, who wasn’t used to it, there was a definite taste to the air, not a good one. There were more people with masks on than the few I noticed in Tanggu. The cold brought out scarves that were worn across the face.
The Tianjin riverfront was very nice. The river winds through town, and is calm. There are many bridges crossing the river. There are old bridges with ornate statuary and gold trim, a couple of industrial-practical bridges, and a few modern design bridges at all sorts of angles. The map I had was all in Chinese, but it was useful that each bridge on the map had a small drawing of the bridge, so I could tell by bridge style where I was on the river walk. I walked farther than I thought I would because I would decide, at each bridge, to walk “just up to the next interesting bridge”. Ha! The bridges won – eventually I had to turn around, without having run out of bridges.
All along the riverfront there were various small parks. Some had sculpture, some had organized “groves” of trees, some had long lines of places to sit. There were wider areas at which I imagine, in warmer times, there are probably street vendors. And there was a very large plaza in front of the Tianjin main railway station.
Set just a little back from the riverfront were some fancy hotels, looking very executive. And a little further back from the hotels were some taller buildings, but not competing with those in Shanghai or Singapore. Tianjin is a financial and shipping center. There were two tall buildings with “COSCO” on the side. One of them had a mini Eiffel Tower on top! That name is on the side of many container ships we used to see in San Francisco waters. “COSCO” that is, not “Eiffel”.
One older hotel right on the riverfront, I think a luxury hotel, had snow on its front lawn! Fun! It was obviously imported, although the temperatures certainly did not threaten any melting. It looked set up for either sledding or the most beginner type of ski or snowboard fun. It was ready for nighttime activity, with a bar nearby, and temporary lights. Nobody was using it in the middle of the afternoon.
Just off the riverfront, there was a small section of town called “Italian Style Town”. I cannot verify authenticity, since I have never been to Italy, but okay, at least it looked European and had some European-named restaurants. It actually was fun to walk through – it had a good feel to it. There was quite a bit of outdoor seating, cafe style, going unused for now. Many people were walking around. It was a touch warmer there, with less breeze in the protected streets than along the river.
All in all, it was a nice little trip – a bit of demystifying Tianjin.
On the way home in the cab, I saw a very long coal train. We were alongside it for several minutes. I don’t know if coal trains are a common sight in other parts of the US, but in the places I have lived they are rare, so it was an unusual sight for me. It reminded me how much of China’s (and the world’s, for that matter) energy still comes from coal. I knew that, but sometimes seeing it makes it more real. I also realized that I was “getting used to” the pollution, putting it towards the back of my brain. Seeing that train renewed my awareness.