What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Truly one of the biggest and most modern cities in China, Tianjin  (天津) offered us a memorable break to enjoy a bit of city living - we felt very much rewarded in exploring the cultural heritage as well as being mesmerised by the beautiful modern skyscrapers; strolling along the Hai He (海河) and admiring the eye-catching Tianjin Eye was most relaxing. Even though Tianjin boasted a population of over 15 million residents, we did not feel the city was over-crowded perhaps because of the excellent urban planning in putting together numerous parks and greenery as well as having in place a good metro network, so the above-ground traffic was not immense. Of course, our impression was enhanced when the dreaded pollution did not appear at all during our stay, so "good job!" to the Environment Protection Department and hopefully this would carry on through to the Winter months when smog would be at its most severe. So a fond farewell to this modern city and I would just sign off with a few nice photos.

Many a visitor to China would think The Great Wall was constructed solely on land to ward off the invaders from the north, but in actual fact The Great Wall extended its eastern reaches all the way into the sea. The front of the construction was named The Old Dragon Head (老龍頭) and this part of The Great Wall was used to protect China from pirates and enemies launching their raids from the eastern seas. We visited this unique spectacle on a lovely mild Summer day as we took the High Speed Rail from Tianjin to the famous Great Wall Fortress of Shan Hai Guan (山海關) in the Province of He Bei (河北). The Old Dragon Head lied about 4KM from the SHG train station and what a sight it was, to see the magnificent rampart extended its mighty head about 100 meters into the sea. Amazingly, all the brick and building materials remained intact with only minor later-day reinforcement since the structure was built in the Ming Dynasty ~600 years ago, now that's what's called great workmanship ! We took a much-needed lunch in a nearby village where we were served local vegetables cooked of course by the local village ladies. Energised with a full stomach, we soldiered on to visit SHG proper and paid a visit to the very informative Great Wall Museum before heading back to Tianjin after a fruitful day out.

Without doubt, one of the mega-cities in China, Tianjin (天津) had long held an important role in safe guarding the capital Beijing, as the city was located at the bay of Bo Hai Sea (渤海灣) and stood as an imposing barrier against hostile forces attacking from the East China Sea. Precisely because of its proximity to the ancient Emperor's Court, the city was one of the first regions to open up to foreign trade and subsequent land concessions in the Qing Dynasty (清朝); and as a result, Tianjin inherited an air of European atmosphere to go with its prestigious Chinese traditions. These Chinese heritage included the famed clay figurines (泥人張) - usually 20 cm in height, the Go Believe dumplings (狗不理) as well as a hosts of amazing but I-didn't-know-that traditions from ancient kite making (~700 B.C.) to being a respected home base for Beijing Opera (京劇). As for the western influences, there were the European-styled architecture found along the picturesque Hai He River (海河) including the Marco Polo Square (馬可波羅廣場) and the glorious Five Great Avenues - Wudadao (五大道) where one could immerse in a surreal environment surrounded by Greek, Gothic, Romantic and Renaissance buildings and villas.

Also, the flower market of 曹莊子花卉市場 had beautiful Dutch-inspired row houses and they were brightly painted and looked just like those in a small village in Holland. Fortunately, the modern Metro was at hand to wheeze us across town as ground transport was the standard chock-a-block one would expect in such a huge city. Surprisingly, the notorious smog was nowhere to be found during our stay, perhaps the Environment Department did a good job or the early Summer breeze took away all the pollutants, we had clear blue sky and crisp air throughout our stay. So we took in the great weather (35C !) and explored this wonderful metropolis including the iconic Tianjin TV Tower (天塔), where we ascended the 400 Meters by an ancient and slow but reliable escalator and we were rewarded with an incredible 360 degrees view of the whole of Tianjin city. We also visited the mega-sized Amusement Park (水上公園) and the Buddhist temple of 乾元閣 and of course, the Eye Of Tianjin (天津之眼), and yeh, nowadays almost every city had one of these ferris wheels, charging exorbitant tickets and absolutely raking it in ! Well good for them ! After pounding the pavement, we tried the delicious Tianjin dumplings (狗不理) where every restaurants claimed to have had over 100 years of experience and they were all excellent !