About Tianjin

Location
Tianjin (literally “Heavenly Ford”) is fast becoming China’s third economic growth engine following in Shenzhen and Shanghai’s footsteps. Tianjin is situated only one hundred and thirty kilometers to the south-east of Beijing and is North China’s largest industrial city. Tianjin is basically the world’s largest unknown city. It’s amazing that a city with over ten million people is still unknown by most people around the world outside China.

Economy
The Chinese government is committed to making Tianjin the economic capital of North China. Tianjin is an important industrial base. Tianjin has the largest artificial seaport for trade and cruise ships in Northern China. Now, an industry system including over 180 categories, 36 large enterprises of the pillar industries in machinery, electronics, chemical industry and metallurgy has been formed. Tianjin’s economy is growing rapidly and can be seen by the lightening speed of infrastructural development and high rises shooting up all over the city.

The Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) is mainly identified by its dynamic economy, outstanding investment environment, convenient transportation network, sophisticated utilities and talent pool. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) listed TEDA as one of the most dynamic areas of China together with Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wenzhou, Shanghai Pudong and Xi’an High-tech Park.

Dining and Food
Tianjin has its own famous food street called Nanshi Shipin Jie (南市食品街) where one can try locally made food products. It is located in the Nanshi area of town which is reasonably central.

Tianjin is a city that has so much variety to choose from when it comes to dining. It has restaurants serving food from every different region around China as well as many Korean, Japanese, Indian, French, German and Italian eating establishments. Your taste buds will never be bored in Tianjin.

Places of Interest
In Tianjin’s Ancient Culture Street, which was widened and renovated in 2005, you will find all sorts of items for sale, such as traditional clothing, bags, musical instruments, watches, paintings, wall hangings, jewelry, and so much more. Nearby one can also visit Tianjin’s Drum Tower- Gu Lou (鼓楼) which sells similar items as the Ancient Culture Street.

Tianjin municipality covers an area of 11,919.7 sq km. In this area it has some interesting travel destinations. Outside of the city proper, in Tianjin’s Jixian County (蓟县), there is a temple known as “The Temple of Solitary Joy” which was built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In Jixian, there is also a section of the Great Wall that is certainly worth visiting for the natural beauty and surrounding mountain scenery, as well as the pristine peacefulness of the area. Tianjin also has many noteworthy museums, a zoo, and a Botanical Garden.

Today, an increasingly large number of foreigners are coming to Tianjin for work, study and business. Tianjin has some excellent universities including Nankai University, Tianjin University and Tianjin Medical University.

Nightlife
Tianjin’s night life is pretty ample now. You have a good range of nightclubs and bars. On Youyi Lu (Friendship Road) you have Tianjin’s bar street which has dozens of bars; Broadies and Scooters being the two most well known there. Any newcomer to Tianjin who wants to quickly meet other expats would be strongly advised to first go to Alibaba’s Bar on Tong’an Dao in Heping District only a couple of hundred metres from Nan Kai University.

In Tianjin, karaoke bars are known as KTV clubs. They differ from the traditional Western karaoke clubs in that here you rent private rooms according to the size of your group. You can book the number of hours you want. Prices vary according to days of the week and times of the day. Most KTV clubs are open twenty-four hours.

Public Transport
Tianjin’s public transport is very convenient and developing all the time. Buses are the main way to get around with the average bus fare costing 1.5 – 2 Yuan per ride. Tianjin only has one subway line, which is very modern and quick for those who live along its route. Subway Lines 2 and 3 are currently being built with Line 2 opening in 2010. To see details about the Tianjin Subway click here.

Taxis in Tianjin are also very reasonable with most having a flag fall fare of only 8 Yuan. Once you hit the three km mark it will start going up in in 1.70 Yuan increments. You can click here for Tianjin taxi fares.