18 Unique Things to Do in Tianjin, China
Around Tianjin
Tianjin (Tientsin) is a Chinese city with a long history of hosting, rebelling against and incorporating foreign elements. Italy, Germany, France, Russia, Great Britain and ancient Asian invaders all once took territory in this city. The resulting architecture is unique and extremely well-preserved. Additionally, Tianjin has a unique architectural-hybrid culture, making the city a supremely strange place to visit.
Tianjin’s attraction list is actually split into two, slightly unconnected zones. The Beinhai Port Area, which operates as a port, is where most visitors end up arriving. However, tourists gravitate towards the Tianjin Attractions Area, which is located West of Binhai and South of Beijing. All zones can be reached using public transportation from either Beijing or Tianjin.
Note that Tianjin’s territory is fairly spread out. Attractions take some time to get between, so a minimum of three days is needed to appreciate everything. Visitors will likely bounce between the central Tianjin tourist area to the Binhai/Port of Tianjin Area to the serene mountain attractions to the north.
Public transportation in Tianjin is especially good. The city is best visited in the Summer or early Autumn.
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Unique Things to Do in Tianjin
Tianjin Binhai Library
This is a stunning and wavy building with an enormous glowing white globe in the center. The sphere’s interior is actually an auditorium, often called “The Eye of Binhai.” (When looking in from the outside, the Orb causes the entire structure to look like an “eye.”) The building is stocked with rows upon endless rows of wavy, colorful books, curling around the room.
However, the books in the display library aren’t real. They’re simply printed spines made to look like ornate tomes. The library does possess over 200,000 actual books in the reading rooms, which are more practically oriented. The library is a popular tourist photo opportunity and part of an urban cultural development project.
Tianjin Opera Museum
Built in 1907, this structure was a popular entertainment center for revolutionary figures. This building now serves as a artistic heritage museum with a guild hall, courtyard and visitor center. The histories of Tianjin Opera are covered in various displays. The theatre shows live performances in March and April.
People’s Park
Tianjin’s large green space is filled with lakes, small temples and gardens. The park is a sprawling series of paved trails and plazas in the center of the city. Elderly people are often seen exercising here and doing Tai Chi.
The Great Mosque
Though visitors cannot enter most of the buildings, the Great Mosque is one of the largest centers of Islam in China. The Mosque is unique for it’s ornate Chinese and Arabic combination calligraphy tablets, found in one of the Great Hall areas.
Yang Village Small World Amuseument Park
A tiny-village with symbolic structures, such as a miniture Eiffel Tower, Mt. Everest, Great Wall and others. The park is structed along the Earth’s tectonic plate fault lines. It’s a good children’s day-trip.
Tianjin Eye
The Tianjin Eye is a massive neon Ferris Wheel commonly seen reflected over the Hai River. The Ferris Wheel is uniquely constructed as a towering monument on a bridge, letting visitors rotate above the rushing waters of the Hai. In the daytime, the wheel looks steely and sturdy. At night, it glows a spectrum of neon colors.
Ceramic/Porcelain House
The Ceramic (Porcelain) House in Tianjin is a elaborate local structure which costed over 500 million yuan to finish. The house is made from hundreds of ceramic jars and jugs that have been embedded in the walls. The ancient porcelain pieces are genuine articles. There are over 400 pieces of jade stone, 10 tons of crystal and millions of pieces of ancient Chinese ceramic chips. The structure has a wavy motion incorperated in it’s design, combining traditional Chinese and Western elements.
The Great Wall at Huangya Pass (Huangyaguan Changcheng)
A day trip from Tianjin. Tianjin hosts a section of the Great Wall to the north, a fairly short trip out of the city. The section of the Great Wall is much less crowded than the Beijing section. Also, the wall boarders some unique additional attractions, such as the Beiji Temple, Bagua City and the Bagua Labryrinth. Note that this section of the great wall is among the longest restored sections. It’s alos built in a steep part of the mountains, so walking the wall is strenuous. It is well known as the site for the famous Huangyaguan Marathon.
Ancient Culture Street (Gu Wenhua Jie)
This a refurbished Hutong walking street of Tianjin. The local pedestrian area has the typical traditional Chinese aspects, including urban sculptures, a temple of the Sea Goddess, a temple of Confucius, various shops, and street-side food stalls.
The Five Great Avenues (Wu Da Dao)
This series of streets is the best-preserved cluster of villas in Tianjin and among the most pristine in all of China. Over 2,000 Western-Style villas from the 1920s and 1930s line the streets. The Villas are a surprisingly excellent showcase of European architectures with villas in the Italian, French, German, British, Spanish, Renaissance, Classical, Baroque, Syncretism and Chinese-Hybrid styles of architecture. Another name for the free walking area is the “Expo of Worldwide Buildings.” The area is also home to European Culture Parks, each marked with a QR code. Scanning the official codes here allows visitors to read information about the specific historic block. Additionally, there are dozens of cafes and European-cuisine restaurants. The area is somewhat expensive.
Tianjin Haihe Cultural Square
A wonderfully impressive promenade, especially when lit up at night. European and Chinese hybrid influences are showcased beautifully in the surrounding walking area, with additional reflections mirroring on the river below. The Square itself is quite peaceful with special lighting at night. It leads to the extended river-walk area, where people can sample from stalls, watch the fish below and wave to the tourist boat rides. It is best seen in the evening, when everything is lit up.
Temple of the Queen of Heaven
A large Chinese pavilion and buidling complex where a statue of the Queen of Heaven is worshiped. The temple grounds host the Zhangxian Pavilion, an impressive Dum Tower, the Bell Tower the Qisheng Ancestral Temple and many other architectural features from the Qing Dynasty. The Queen of Heaven Statue is notable for a phoenix coronet and crimson robe.
Dabei Buddhist Temple
This Temple, named for Daci Baei Kwan-yin (the Bodhisattva of Mercy) is the oldest and best-preserved temple in the city. The architecture is a combination of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) influences, since it’s been damaged and repaired several times. The site is adjacent to the Tianjin Buddhist Institute. The Grand Hall of the temple is especially worth a visit, since it holds hundred of Chinese Buddhist statues made from stone, iron, wood and bronze.
Binhai Aircraft Carrier Theme Park
A bizarre and highly novel park, this amuseument facility is built upon the decommissioned Kiev Aircraft Carrier. The park is designed to be educational, allowing visitors to visit the command center, intelligence room, launch deck and an internal technology museum. The aircraft carrier is the centerpiece of the Russian-styled military theme park, with other buildings showcasing Soviet culture, food, drinks, crafts and street shows.
Dule (Solitary Joy) Temple
A truly ancient Buddhist temple north of Tianjin City. The temple is over 1,000 years old and remains the oldest surviving timber building in Asia. It was originally founded in the Tang Dynasty, but the currently standing portions are from the Liao Dynasty. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taku Fort
This unassuming musuem holds all that remains of a thoroughly-destroyed fort. The fort was a huge point of contention between the British and Chinese during the country’s formative Opium Wars. Unfortunately, most structures are no longer intact, but the bastions, map markers and historical plaques are illuminating. The site is essentially an outdoor relic park for Chinese-Occupation-History enthusiasts.
Yan Yue Teahouse
This is a simple and elegant traditional teahouse famous for local tea-stage performances. While there are many cultural tea performances throughout Tianjin, Yan Yue Teahouse is known for being a bit quieter and more intimate than other locations. Additionally, part of teahouse performance-culture involves encouraging audience guests to gossip, talk amongst one another and enjoy melon-seed snacks. Often, it can be a bit tricky for non-fluent foreigners to take part, but the hosts are very considerate and understanding.
Traditional Breakfast Stalls
Found throuhgout Tianjin, mornings are known for streets of breakfast stalls. These small, mobile street stalls offer traditional breakfast meals, including sugar pastries, guozi fritters, goubuli steam buns, guifaxiang fried dough twisters, old-curd tofu (lao doufu), crispy rice and jiang zi soybean milk. Generally, these meal areas are treated as a social gathering before work. The more famous stalls are found on Nanshi Food Street in Heping District.
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