Zhengxie Tianjin

I’ve been in Tianjin for a few months now. I’m starting to get used to the workload and my studies have become a lot more manageable, but I’m seeing a whole other side of China that I don’t know how to cope with.

When I first came to China last year I saw things from the perspective of a tourist. Now that I’m living here, it’s becoming hard for me to just accept things because I’m in another country. The dust has ...

... to the Haihewaitan park at the end of the Haihe river. The park was a basically a series of modern art projects that cover most of China and was actually quite nice if nothing to see. We passed by the famous Orient Princess ship where they run KTV and walked down the river towards a 'Chaoyin temple' I had read about on the map. After rechecking the map and realizing that we had, in fact, been walking in the right direction, however there ...

A couple of months have past since our last little adventure and the throes of a day to day job have enthralled me for the moments. I do feel, however, the often little tug to wander streets I haven't walked and to places I have not yet gazed. And so, for this weekend, the two of us decided to go to the close coastal city of Tanggu to see there what it had to offer. Of ...

... Past security and giggling boys. Along the side of a highway. Through a construction site. I hover for about five minutes to see if anyone minds. The red notebook is indeed magical, they must think me a foreign foreman. Or just not care. Try here, try there, no passage, no ocean. Well, I found the salt flats. Darn close but no cigar. Back to the train. Pause for an apple. Bum a light. It'll cost 2 yuan to try the last stop, also ...

... location, them with 'meter is broken, 25rmb?'. Of course, it only costs 10rmb to get back to her apartment from the bus station, but why should they assume we know that. Very annoying of course, we ended up taking one of the nu-rickshaws, with the motorcycle front.

That night we spent in the town center, searching for sushi - which we eventually found and was both delicious and too ...

October 1 I had the day off for the Celebration of Chinese National Day. It was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. I used this time to explore more of Tianjin. I did a lot of walking and sweating but it was worth it. Enjoy the Photos.

Blake

National Day in China is celebrated on October 1st, and this year is a big one since it's the 60th anniversary of the PRC. Added with that, the fall festival fell close enough to national day this year that I ended up with 8 days off. 'Course, I had to work the Sunday before and the Saturday after ...

Pics from Culture Street and Dinner at a Hot Pot Restaurant.

HUO GUO mean "fire pot"-- The concept is easy you put seasoned water in a pot and boil it in the center of the table. Everyone around the table cooks food in it and eats. Kinda like a Fondue.

Our dinner was shrimp, beef, lamb, mushrooms, cabbage, octopus, squid, and noodles. To make the ...

... Church, the largest church in Tianjin which was pretty nice. We caught a taxi to the other side of town and went to the TV tower. This was the 4th largest TV tower in the world and the views from the top were stunning (the pollution was pretty bad so you couldn't see for miles but most of the city though!) We then wondered through the Water Park, which was basically a massive park with large ponds and nice scenic views. Today, we started by walking over the ...

Today I was in Datong!!! DaTONG DaTONG DaTONG!!! I went to see some buddhist caves that were really cool. They were from ~500 AD, and they are pretty well preserved and interesting enough for a half day tour. If you remember my travelpod entry from Dunhuang last summer, which I am sure you do, they are quite similar to the Mogao caves there. They were constructed during the famous Northern Wei dynasty as ...