Basics

Geography of Tianjin

Tianjin, 137 kilometers southeast of Beijing, is located at 39º8' North and 117º2' East, covering area of 11,917 square kilometers, the city is bordering on the Bohai Sea in the east. It is one of three municipalities of China directly under the Central Government. The five main tributaries of the Haihe River, namely, the Yongding, Daqing, Ziya, Nanyunhe and Chaobai, coverage here to from the Haihe River, which flows through the city and empties into Bohai Sea at Dagukou. The terrain in Tianjin is low and flat, with an altitude of only two to five metres above sea level. Most part of the city is on the Haihe Plain.

Climate of Tianjin

The climate of Tianjin is temperate, continental-type monsoon climate with four seasons distinct from one another. The mean temperature of the year is 12.2ºC ( 53.96ºF) with that of January being -4ºC (24.8 ºF) and that of July 26.8ºC ( 80.24ºF) . The average annual rainfall is 559.1mm, most of which is concentrated in summer. The freezing period of ports lasts 80 days.

Brief History of Tianjin

Tianjin gradually took shape in 12th century when more and more settlements were established. It was a county town in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and became a municipality in 1928. After the attack by the Anglo- French aggressor troops 1860.Tianjin was then turned into a trading port. Tianjin became one of centres of industry foreign trade and science-technology of socialist China now.

Tianjin Local Products

Tianjin is renowned for Xiaozhan rice and teems with yellow croakers, Chinese herrings, Spanish mackerels, chub mackerels and prawn. Tianjin exports large quantities of Chinese cabbages, small and beans and green turnips. Handicraft articles such as carpets, kites and painted clay figurines as well as Yangliuqing New Year pictures enjoy high reputation abroad. Besides, tablecloth, embroidered blouses, woven straw articles, play diabolo, Western-style silver cutlery, headdresses, jewellery, jade and ivory carving are also very famous.

Tianjin Local Cuisine

The local food In Tianjin characterized by a variety of sea food combines special features of Sichuan, Shandong, Huaiyang and Zhejiang food to form a unique style of its own. Food of the French, English, Italian and Russian style are also served in hotels and restaurants here. Besides, there are many kinds of snacks. Tourists can enjoy delicious food of either the Chinese or Western style in Tianjin.

Places of Interests of Tourists Attraction of Tianjin

The Shuishang Park (Water Park), the largest park in Tianjin, covers an area of 200 hectares. Half of the park is water surface, which is divided into the east lakes, the west lake and several smaller lakes. Inlaid on the lakes are 13 islets, which are decorated with pavilions, towers and terraces and connected with one another by exquisite curved bridges, arch bridges and dykes lined with weeping willows, giving a unique charm to the park. 

Adjacent to the park is the Tianjin Zoo, which is renowned for its novel architecture and collection of rare animals such as the giant panda.

The Panshan scenic spot in Jixian County is a tourist attraction, famous for its scenery and historical relics. Dule (Exclusive Happiness) Temple has a history of over 1,000 years behind it. The Guanyin Tower in the temple is among the most ancient wooden architecture existing in China today. The clay sculpture of the goddess Guanyin with her 10 smaller heads is also the biggest of it kind in the country.

Located in the city, the Memorial Hall of Zhou Enlai is the place where the late Premier used to study and takes part in revolutionary activities.

Tianjin is an industrial centre. Its petrochemical industry has developed considerably since the extraction of land and offshore oil. The Dagang oilfield and the chemical fibre plant are open to tourists and visitors.

Tianjin is also a cultural city and has museums of natural history, history and arts which attracted visitors with their rich collections. Schools, universities and other medical and scientific institutions have close ties with foreign countries. The well-known Tianjin University, Nankai University, Tianjin Medical College and Tianjin Hospital often hold seminars and receive specialized visitors.

Many products made in Tianjin are popular at home and abroad, such as the "Fengchuan" brand quality hand-made carpets, Yangliuqing Hand-Made New Year Pictures, Painted Clay Figurines of the Zhang Family, the "Dunhuang" brand kites, etc. A visit to the workshops of these products is appealing to many tourists."

In Tianjin, tourists can also enjoy a great variety of performing arts, such as Beijing (Peking) Opera, Ping Opera, Hebei Bangzi (A kind of local opera), plays, Shaoxin Opera, acrobatics, puppet shows, etc.

Tianjin has been famed as "Home of Footballs", and baseball's also very popular in Tianjin. National and international tournaments are often organized here.

With a long history, the folk art galas in Tianjin are most colourful. During holiday of the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, hundreds of thousands of people take part in the performance of dragon dance, lion dance, walking on stilts as well as Wushu (Martial arts). Such galas attract thousands of tourists.

More about Tianjin

Tianjin is best known for its streetscapes of colonial era buildings, a residue of its status as a Treaty Port after 1858. Now a center of multinational businesses concentrated in the new satellite city known as TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area), Tianjin has an extensive modern infrastructure, and is known for the high quality of its industrial products.

Early settlement in the Tianjin region dates back to the Warring States period, but Tianjin’s later prominence was primarily tied to the rise of nearby Beijing as the capital of northern nomadic dynasties and later of the country as a whole. Tianjin served primarily as a storage, sale, and distribution center for agricultural products from the south in the 12th century. Under the Mongols, who first established Beijing as the capital of the entire country, Tianjin served as a storage and trans-shipment point for the grain taxes that were shipped from the south

Tianjin’s prosperity proved a lure for Western trading nations. In 1856 British and French troops used the boarding of a British ship by Chinese troops in search of pirates as an excuse to attack the forts guarding the Haihe River. The defeated Chinese were forced to sign the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin, which opened the port to foreign trade and the sale of opium. Other European nations and Japan followed, establishing distinctive independent concessions on the riverside areas, each with a distinctive architectural style -- variously English Victorian, Italian Roman style streets, French chateaux styles, and German Bavarian villas.

Tianjin became a center of urban modernization and internationalism in the early years of the 20th century. Hotels like the Astor received famous guests such as Herbert Hoover and Sun Yat-sen, and one of China’s first elevators was installed there in 1924.

Meanwhile, heavy silting of the Haihe River led to construction of a new port at Tanggu, 50 km downriver, as Tianjin lost its character as a major port city. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake caused extensive damage to the city, and it was closed to foreign visitors until repairs were completed. The establishment of the Tianjin Economic and Development Area was a major spur to investment and economic revitalization.