再見天津！

Some pictures from around Tianjin University campus and Tianjin city. You might wonder, as I did, why some of the buildings look like they belong more to Europe than Asia, the story behind it is kind of interesting. In the past many foreign countries had concessions in Tianjin among them Germany, USA, France, Belgium. Japan and Russia. Similar to Panama, Tianjin had a strategic geographical location at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Peiho River that made it one of China’s premier ports. Hence, many of its buildings look foreign. However you might be surprised to hear that most of these buildings have been torn down and rebuilt. The government has been rebuilding European style buildings that seem to be “old” all along the Haihe river area to attract tourism and make Tianjin a more commercial area. So all the buildings you see along the river although they seem old, they may be less than two years old. What’s even more surprising is that they’re currently empty! Their specific use has not been determined apart from creating a pleasing atmosphere.

It is very common in Tianjin to see bikes everywhere. Ever since the first day I came I’ve wondered how two people ride in one bike, how stable is just sitting in the back, whether it requires much balance or if it’s even comfortable. The other day I had the ‘luck’ to try it out! When I went for dinner with some Tianjin friends they all had bikes but since I didn’t have one we were walking until they all agreed we would never get there and I should just ride with one of them. I’ve concluded that it’s not as carefree as it seems to be or at least I’m not used to it. It is especially not fun when crossing the street. Remember how I said traffic was crazy and crossing the street felt like a serious danger? Well it’s even scarier when you can only but trust the person controlling the bike! It also requires a lot of abs muscle power since you have to balance your weigh to not fall back and you only have a very small “seat” space.
Tomorrow we’re leaving to Shanghai! I really can’t wait to see the world’s largest city (population-wise)! Tianjin has been really nice, I especially liked the people. Everyone has been so welcoming and nice. 我會想我天津的朋友！:(