Tianjin

INTRO
Those Chinese cities - they always hide a hidden message behind their original names. Take Tianjin for example - looks short and simple but actually means 'Emperor's Ford', or 'the point where the Son of Heaven once crossed the river'. The person who forded the river was Zhu Di, Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty. In the past Emperor's treasures were shipped from the southern parts of the country right in the capital by the Grand Canal, which flows through Tianjin. As years passed, the city became one of the largest and most important trading and industrial metropolises in China.

City Profile
City: Tianjin
Country: China
Area: 11,920 km2
Population: 5,000,000
Districts:18
Governor: Dai Xianglong
Language: Chinese
Rating:

LOCATION
Just one look on the map of China is enough to show us why Tianjin developed into a trading centre so successfully. It is situated in the northeastern part of North China Great Plain, with the Bohai Sea in the east, bordering the Yuanshan Mountain in the north. Its terrain traverses the Haihe River through north and south. It has gained the popularity as the gateway of the capital city ever since the opening of the Grand Canal of China during the Sui Dynasty.

TIME TO VISIT
The climate of Tianjin could be described as moderate, continental-type monsoon climate with the four seasons different from one another. The average annual rainfall is 559.1 mm and it lasts mainly in summer. During winter, water in the port is frozen over for 80 days. The average yearly temperature is only 13C. The highest temperature is in July (above 26 C) and lowest is in January. The best periods to go to Tianjin are spring and autumn when the nicest temperatures can be expected.

POPULATION
At the end of 2004, the population of Tianjin was 10.24 million with 9.33 million permanent citizens. Among them, 5.56 million were urban, and 3.76 million were rural. The majority of Tianjin residents are Han Chinese while the minorities include Hui, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols. People from urban Tianjin speak Tianjin dialect, which is a subdivision of spoken Chinese. But due to the fact that in the past the city was shared by nine countries (Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Belgium and Japan) many different languages can be heard, which gives the city an exotic flavour. .

DISTRICTS
Tianjin is divided into 18 county-level divisions. These districts include 120 towns, 18 townships, 2 ethnic townships and 100 subdistricts.

Heping District is a central of Tianjin. The 9.97 km2 district boasts long history. It consists of 6 street offices and 88 community resident's committees.
Nankai District is the culture and education district of Tianjin. It is hi-tech industrial area of Tianjin. It is assumed that the ancient urban area which is located around the city gate is Tianjin's birthplace. And because of that many cultural treasures and places may be seen there.
Tanggu District has a strategic location thus is called the gate of capital. Thanks to its special geographic location it has been an important fortress in the past and a cradle for latter-day industry in North China. Its coastline is 92.16 kilometre long and provides nearly a hundred sea products. Due to its location, Tanggu is trading with more than 300 ports from all around the world. There are also more than 70 regular shipping routes at the port.
Beichen District, earlier known as Beijiao District (North Suburb) was originally a suburban district of Tianjin city. After the city expands, it became a part of the new metropolitan area. China National Highway 103 leads through the district right in the middle.

SIGHTS & ATTRACTIONS

Xikai Church is situated on Dushan Road. It was build by the French Catholics in 1916 and it is 45-metre high. It is very colourful due to its red and yellow walls and three towers, each ending with a green top. http://www.chinats.com/tianjin/tianjin1713.htm
Tianjin Railway Station is one of the earliest railway stations in China. Both Beijing-Harbin and Beijing-Shanghai Railway pass Tianjin, connecting the city with the capital as well as the northeast and the east parts of China. One of the interesting object about the station is the 67.8-metre-tall clock tower, standing on one of the main building, which is the highest of its kind in China.
Tianjin TV & Radio Tower, built in 1991, towers 415.2 metres above the ground. Easily recognised from a distance, the tower pierces the sky. The top-floor restaurant can serve 200 people at the same time and offers a bird's-eye view of the magnificent metropolis of Tianjin. http://www.great-towers.com/eng/towers/tianjinhtml.htm
Tianjin Sport Centre covers an area of 111 hectares and includes a gymnasium, a stadium, bicycle racing ring, an indoor swimming pool, base ball arena and athletes' village. There is also a public park to do physical exercises and hold various recreational activities. The multi-functional international standard sport venue has 10,000 seats in the main hall and other 2,500 seats in its subordinate hall. http://en.beijing2008.com/35/03/article212010335.shtml
Dabei Zen Temple This famous temple consists of two parts: the old Temple in the west and the New one in the east. In the New Temple are a series of halls and the old Temple houses several hundreds of Buddhist statutes. They are made of bronze, iron, stone or wood and date back from various dynasties. http://china.youth.cn/travel/pictures/200604/t20060429_319896.htm
Seaview Tower is a Catholic church built in l869. The temple was ruined and rebuilt repeatedly. The last major destruction was done by earthquake. Recently the church has been an object state protection as a major national relic since 1988.
Huangyaguan Great Wall This section of the ancient Great Wall had a length of 42 kilometers (about 26 miles), but it suffered serious damage throughout its long history. It was repaired in 1987 and since then on it began to receive tourists. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/scene/tianjin/huangyaguan.htm
Tianjin's Mazu Temple Fair There are many Mazu's temples all around China and every year in each of them are held fairs. The city of Tianjin, has its own Mazu temple (called Tianhou Temple), which is on the coast. http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2005/06/17/001048186.shtml

AIRPORT
There is one airport in the vicinity of Tianjin:

Tianjin Binhai International Airport is situated in Zhanggui Zhuang, Dongli District, about 13 kilometers from the centre area of Tianjin. There are regular shuttle buses that connect Binhai International Airport with Tianjin Municipality. The tickets cost about CNY10. Inquiring Phone of Binhai International Airport: 022-24901689 Ticket-selling Phone of Binhai International Airport: 022-24901443

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION

Buses - there are over four hundred bus lines that provide access to every district of the city. A ticket costs 1 RMB.
The Metro a was constructed in 1970 as the second underground net in China. In fact it is not very developed, but it has still been extended and rebuilt.
Taxis are yellow or red. Yellow taxis are cheaper (1.3RMB/km) than red (1.5RMB/km), but generally taxis in Tianjin are cheap. The starting fee is 5 RMB.
Bicycles remained one of the most popular means of transport of Tianjin's inhabitants. It is cheap and environment-friendly.
The railway line called the Binhai Mass Transit line leads through the suburbs.

HISTORY
The history of Tianjin started under the rule of the Sui dynasty (581-618). The Sui leaders engineered an unusually ambitious six-year project of digging a canal that connected China's Grand Canal with the Bohai Gulf. During the Tang dynasty (618-907) the city started using its canal and sea location and became a transportation hub. Most of China's food and silk past Tianjin's boom stalled in the first half of the 20th century. The Democratic Revolution (1911) and Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945) greatly gummed Tianjin's economic paced through Zhigu, helping to consolidate national economy.

CITY LINKS

Tianjin Traditional and Western Medicine Hospital http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000002002.shtml
The Profile of Tianjin's Medical and Health http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001989.shtml
Newspaper http://211.94.198.12/jwb/html/2007-07/15/node_2.htm

UNIVERSITY LINKS

Tianjin Normal University http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001912.shtml
Tianjin Foreign Language Studies University http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001913.shtml
TianJin Medical University http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001914.shtml
Tianjin University of Finance and Economics http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001917.shtml
Tianjin University of Commerce http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001918.shtml