Friday... Xingang Port and Tianjin
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2010
1
27
43
Trip End
May 15, 2010
Xingang Port, Shandong, China
Friday, April 30, 2010
Some passengers continuing on the 2nd leg of the cruise, opted to see the Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square, while others chose to see the Great Wall. Both tours were a 2 ½ to 3 hour bus trip each way. Our tour of Tianjin was only a 45 minute drive from Xingang Port. We had enjoyed Tianjin in 2006, so we were happy to be seeing it again, especially since we had spent 7 days in Beijing on a previous visit to China.
Our 1st stop was the German Concession. By mid-19th century, Tianjin was opened to foreign trade. To reduce the possibility of conflict, the Chinese ceded certain authorities over foreign countries, in specific areas of Tianjin. The British and French concessions were the earliest to be created, between 1895 and 1900 and they were soon joined by other countries, including Germany.
Our 2nd stop was Ancient Cultural Street, located in the old section of the city. Along the pedestrian walkways, are nearly 100 shops selling all sorts of Asian arts and crafts items. The distinctive Chinese architectural style has been well-preserved along Cultural Street.
Next, we visited Nanshi Food Street, where we explored the covered shopping arcade and had a wonderful muti-course lunch. This area has more than 100 restaurants, offering various types of cuisine. There are also many food stalls here, as well as many Chinese items for sale.
After lunch, we visited the Italian Concession, where couples getting married, dress in their wedding clothes and come to have their photos taken. They didn't seem to mind us taking their photo, too.
We made a brief stop to see Tianjin’s Century Clock… a landmark of the city, adorned with the 12 symbols of the Chinese zodiac carved in bronze. Close by was the Haihe River area, where we crossed the Liberation Bridge (Jiefang Bridge), completed in 1927 and named in honor of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
It was a great tour... again! We visited some of the same sights we saw in 2006 and other sights we hadn’t previously seen. It was a very good day!
