Tianjin Travel Guide

Tianjin is the largest port city on the Bohai coast of northern China, well connected to Beijing by high-speed rail. After the city was opened to foreign trade in 1860, British, French, German and Italian concessions laid down a streetscape that mixes European mansions with Chinese traditions, giving Tianjin a look distinct from anywhere else in the region.

The center of sightseeing is the Five Great Avenues (Wudadao) district. More than 2,000 detached villas built by former politicians, industrialists and foreign residents still stand — Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque and more — lining the calm streets of Machang Dao and Munan Dao. A slow walk takes you past brick and stone mansions set in their own gardens, the city's modern history told block by block.

Along the Hai River, a riverside promenade runs under a sequence of bridges in different styles, all distinctively Tianjin. The Tianjin Eye, a Ferris wheel built onto a bridge over the river, is one of the few such installations in the world; at its peak the cabin sits roughly 120 meters above the water, looking back over the city center. The nearby Ancient Culture Street clusters shops selling Clay Figurine Zhang figurines and Yangliuqing New Year prints, and the Tianhou Temple, with roots going back about 700 years, can be visited on the same walk.

Tianjin wears two faces: the treaty-port city of the concessions, and the working river port that grew rich on canal trade. Sampling its signature snacks between sights is half the pleasure. The main airport is Tianjin Binhai International; the rail hubs are Tianjin Station and Tianjin West Station, and both Beijing and Shanghai are within a day's return trip. Take a slow walk — the foreign mansions and the street stalls sit comfortably side by side.