April 8 - 9 - Tianjin

This morning I took my half-day tour to Tianjin so that I could at least see a little of mainland China.  Sophisticated travelers or not, we still have some inconsiderate people on board.  Two people decided not to go but failed to let anyone know; as a result we were late getting off.  On the bus our guide Connor told us we would have an hour and a half ride to Tianjin. Sometimes a bus ride through the countryside can be very interesting and picturesque.  Not this one.  The terrain is completely flat and brown except for the budding trees which are all newly planted along the highway.  I didn’t see a single natural forest.  Instead there were literal forests of high-rise utilitarian apartment buildings plopped down in the middle of nowhere.  Around these forests were parking lots with no cars in them and no sign of people about.  I think the buildings are inhabited because I could occasionally see clothes hanging on lines.

Forests of apartment buildings

As I said, as we sped along the equivalent of an interstate there were lines of trees and shrubs, all  planted in the recent past. They provided the only touch of color in an otherwise beige and gray landscape. For miles I didn’t see anything looking like a shopping area for the invisible inhabitants of the housing projects.  There were also not many cars along the highway.  I think I saw more trucks than anything else, all coming from or going to the massive port at which we’re docked.

A little hard to see but container docks all across the horizon

Finally we arrived in Tianjin.  The city is one of nine national cities in China which means that it’s governed directly by the State Council of China.  There are nearly 14 million people living here with the main core of the city along the banks of the Hai River.  There is apparently an old walled city built in the early 15th century which we didn’t see. Tianjin was one of the trade ports opened up for foreigners following the Chinese defeat in the Opium Wars.  Along with this and other cities being opened up for foreign concessions (areas in which western countries built mansions, hotels and essentially whole communities) by the treaty signed in Tianjin, China ceded the Kowloon area, what is now modern-day Hong Kong, to the British in perpetuity. (I should have written about this when we were in Hong Kong but I didn’t.  Years after the treaty ceding Kowloon to Britain, the UK got a 99-year lease on what was called the New Territories near Hong Kong.  As the end of that lease approached there were negotiations and the decision was made to return all of Hong Kong to China with the promise that the area would continue to enjoy the freedoms it had under the UK. We know how that has turned out. But back to Tianjin.)

It was from Tianjin that the European countries and Japan were able to send forces to relieve embattled foreigners under siege in Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion in 1905.  After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China Tianjin suffered a period of depression but it has begun a rebound particularly after the creation of the huge manmade port.  It also has become a big manufacturing center.  Out of the Fortune 500 companies, nearly 300 have a presence in Tianjin. As we rode through the city we saw lots of modern office buildings  along with more of the nondescript apartment blocks.  Here and there were obviously older, shorter apartment buildings that looked like they were from the 50’s era. I didn’t see anything that looked quite like the side streets in Saigon, Hong Kong or Manila.  What I did see were lots of surveillance cameras everywhere.  At one intersection I counted eleven cameras just on the corner I could see.  They were on streetlamp posts and corners of buildings.  In the city there were more cars but not the kind of traffic one would expect in a city of this size.  There were lots of motorbikes, but not as many as in Saigon, and there were quite a few bicycles.  At a couple of intersections I saw something I haven’t seen in ages – a policemen in a booth in the middle to direct traffic.

Our first stop was a replica of an old Chinese village. The actual name of the place is the Traditional Culture Street.  The architecture did indeed look like photos I’ve seen of such places, but cleaner and spiffier than I think one would have ever been.  It turned out that it was a giant shopping area filled with  prepared food places (much of it food that I couldn’t identify) and shops selling a variety of Chinese goods.  The place was crowded with Asian tourists; I don’t know if they were Chinese or other nationalities.  The first thing I discovered was that the shops wouldn’t take anything but Chinese cash or US dollars.  No foreign credit or debit cards were accepted.  In a way that was a good thing because I wasn’t tempted to buy anything since I don’t bring much US cash with me and I had no Chinese money at all.  Most of the stores had what Al used to call “trash and trinkets.”  There were a few shops that I thought were quite interesting though.   One sold nothing but hand-painted fans and there were some beautiful ones made of ebony wood.  These were fans meant to be displayed.  Another shop sold nothing but Chinese instruments.  There were lots of different kinds of string instruments in different shapes and sizes and there were a variety of drums.  The third shop I found fascinating sold all sorts of things to be used to do calligraphy and Chinese painting.  I’ve never seen such a variety of brushes and papers.

These are scenes from the Traditional Culture Street

A shop selling umbrellas

Another shop which was getting a lot of interest from Asians was one where you could apparently go in and dress up in an Emperor’s or Empress’ attire and get your photo taken sitting on a golden throne.  I saw several people getting dressed up with elaborate gowns, wigs and makeup preparing to be photographed as the last emperor or the Dowager Empress.  The entire place was like a Chinese Disneyland without the rides.  Interestingly I also didn’t find a single person who spoke even one word of English.  Everyone seemed friendly but I heard not even a hello or goodbye.

From the village we drove a short distance to the Confucian Temple which had been billed as one of the largest in China.  There were a couple of ornate gates, some statues, a few ponds and two halls in which students could pray for success in their studies. It was a peaceful place in the middle of a busy city but it wasn’t as impressive as some of the temples I’ve seen on this trip.  Maybe I just don’t know anything about Confucianism and the guide didn’t contribute to any further understanding.  In fact, he was the first guide I’ve had who was unimpressive.  I didn’t feel like I learned much of anything from him; usually after a tour my head is about to explode with too much information.

Confucius

One of the temple gates

One of the temples

Another gate with a temple beyond

Detail on the roof of one gate - Chinese love dragons!

Because we were late starting and because of the long drive Connor hurried us along and we got back in the bus for the ride back.  As we drove through the city we passed the Tianjin Eye, their Ferris wheel.  I told you the Asians like Ferris wheels because I’ve seen them almost everywhere we’ve been.  We also passed a church.   I’ve no idea if it’s a working church or the denomination but it didn’t appear to have been taken over by the Chinese government.  I was kind of surprised to see it on a main street.  Once again I saw lots of cameras everywhere; we even had several in our bus.  Big Brother is definitely watching you in China.

If you look hard you can see the Tianjin Eye beyond the red bridge

The church I saw

For the days we were docked in Tianjin we had a definite Chinese presence on the ship.  I fairly often saw a couple of officials walking around and I saw several dining at every meal.  Rumors go around the ship and this is one I heard but I have no idea if it’s true; I’ll be a rumormonger anyway.  Allegedly before we docked in Tianjin, the Chinese communicated to the ship that they wanted 6 cabins made available for their personnel to stay on the ship while we were docked.  They were flatly refused because we have a totally full ship.  I don’t know what if any negotiations ensued but maybe that accounts for the patrols that I saw.

Friends who made the overnight trip told me they had a good time.  One developed the runs and said that 95% of the toilets were what we call squatty-potties.  That wouldn’t have been fun.  From the photos they showed me the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven looked just like I saw them when I went. No surprise there.  One difference was that they had to show their passports three times to go across Tiananmen Square to enter the Forbidden City.  I don’t remember having to do that.  The upshot is that I don’t really regret not doing the overnight tour.  Aside from my half day venture into Tianjin I did some basic maintenance; I got my hair cut and my nails done.  Something must be right here because both are growing like weeds.  I also cleaned out all the reams of paperwork I’d been accumulating as we went along.  So that’s the exciting time I’ve had in the last few days.

Oh, it’s gotten very cold – at least in comparison to what it was for the last couple of months.  Now I’m very glad that I shipped a suitcase with sweaters and turtlenecks.  I think from here on we won’t be experiencing much heat.  We’re having a sea day today on our way to Korea where we’ll spend the next several days.  It will all be new territory for me and another pin to put in my map.  

One last exciting, to me at least, thing I did was that this afternoon I had a drum lesson.  Yes, that's right I sat with the drummer from the band and he let me try playing his drums  At my ripe old age I've decided that I want to learn to play them and when he heard it he said he'd give me a lesson.  I can't tell you how much fun it was!  I'm no Gene Krupa, Charlie Watts or Ringo Starr and never will be, but it was fun and very mentally and physically challenging using all four limbs independently.  I think it just might keep my brain active and sharp so I'll think about pursuing it as a hobby.  Good thing my house is pretty well-insulated!