Tianjin Travel Guide

This major city possesses major attractions. Plotting a course so as to maximize your Tianjin experience becomes imperative, especially if restricted with time.

Downtown A stroll along the Hai River serves as the perfect starting point for initiating oneself with Tianjin's widespread allurements. Enter at the Liberation Bridge and huff north. Paved walking trails parallel the river and afford up-close views of Tianjin's downtown mish-mash of Chinese, Russian, British, Portuguese and Japanese architecture ranging from colonial to contemporary. Numerous parks, fountains and gardens along the walk provide eye-pleasing pause points for snapping photos and pointing to tall buildings and saying "Oooh, look at that."

Turn west at Jingang Bridge and amble one block to Dabei (Grand Mercy) Monastery. Wooden shops fronted with prominent balconies and red and green painted columns canyon the street, creating a replicated 19th century market setting. Trinkets, carved jade figurines, calligraphy, teapots, and fine handmade porcelain pack the stores. Judicial souvenir seekers can also snare famous Yangliuqing New Year's prints at the Tianjin Yangliuqing Gallery and authentic clay figurines at Nirenzhang Clay Figurine Store. Shopping, however, does not need to be the main motivation for entering for this is one of Tianjin's "Do Not Miss" attractions. While there be sure to visit the Tianhuo Temple. Built in 1326 it stands as Tianjin's oldest building. After countless renovations, it now serves as a museum displaying ancient artwork from the Ming and Yuan dynasties.

From here drift one more block west to the Confucian Temple. It, obviously by virtue of its name, is dedicated to the life of Confucius, one of China's greatest sages. Pagodas frame a goldfish pond blanketed with water lilies creating the quintessential Chinese setting usually found in travel brochures and complimentary airline magazines.

For more architectural wonderment board a taxi and speed several blocks northwest to the Grand Mosque. Entrance is limited but guests can still wander the grounds and grasp the mind-buckling splendor of this Muslim monument. Compass directly south from here to the campuses of Tianjin University and Nankai University. Both make for eye-happy strolling grounds. While at Nankai fuel the body with hamburgers and spicy Indian fare at wonderfully eclectic Ali Baba's.

Further south sits the locally revered Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao Memorial Hall. This husband and wife team played major roles in forming the Chinese Communist Party while displaying uncanny loyalty to Mao Zedong. The museum borders Shuishang Park, Tianjin's largest. Ambling past its endless ponds all colored with weeping willows and water lilies is akin to stepping inside a still wet Monet painting.

After this mind balm hop into a taxi and conclude your city tour with a visit to downtown's Antique Market. Hundreds of vendors sit on mats and under umbrellas trying to impress shoppers with their large collections of jewelry and Chinese knickknacks. Haggling is not viewed as a hassle here, but instead as a heaven-sent virtue.

Mountains For a quick city escape drift north for about 25 minutes to the Dongli Lake Holiday Spring Holiday Resort. Though excessively crowded its convenient access to water-skiing and sailing helps distract the humanity issue. But if the mind is locked on sightseeing mode simply bypass the resort and venture 70 miles north to Jixian City's Dule Temple. Erected more than 1,000 years ago this Buddhist house of worship harbors the 52-foot tall Eleven Face Guanyin statue. To only describe it as stunning falls about nine adjectives short of properly conveying the magnitude of this statue.

Continue another 23 miles north to Mount Pan for staggering mountain views full of waterfalls, gorges, ancient pagodas and numerous tourists bent over from the thin air proclaiming their need to get in shape. The Great Wall at Huangyaguan Pass ribbons these mountains and rates as one of the planet's greatest manmade landmarks. Unlike other Great Wall sections that are close to Beijing, crowds are never a problem. Despite the Wall's distance from Tianjin, it should crown everyone's "Things to See" list. Tour buses from downtown run every weekend to the Wall. Or, simply travel via a rental car.2008-08-02T07:29:22.000 359