Day 3 – March 22nd – Tianjin

We left Beijing Nan (Beijing south) railway station on the 10:27 high speed train for the short ride to Tianjin.

A fast and very smooth journey as usual and just 30 minutes later arrived at Tianjin, our home for the next 3 nights .

As it was only 11.30 I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were able to check in to our rooms which were on the 47th and 48th floors of this centrally located hotel, with a stunning view over the Haihe River.

In the centre of a large roundabout between the railway station and our hotel stands the “Century Clock “.

Built in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium the clock stands about 40 meters (130 ft) tall Designed in a striking European-inspired style with Roman numerals and metallic framework Surrounded by sculptural elements representing the 12 signs of the zodiac it is a major landmark beside the river.

After a quick freshen up we were soon out in the spring sunshine to take a look around.

Just a short walk to the opposite side of the river we took a look in one of the many very large shopping malls and found a display of model cars and the 2023 Alfa Romeo formula 1 car.

This display of model cars was in honour of Zhou Guanyu, born in Shanghai (1999) and became China’s first-ever F1 driver when he debuted in 2022.

In the lower ground floor we went to find a coffee shop and came across a supermarket where some tasty looking Peking Duck was being prepared.

Feeling a bit peckish we bought a pack with the usual pancakes and sauce for just £2 and sat at an adjacent table to enjoy our snack, very nice it was too!

Nearby was the fish section with tanks of live seafood, crabs, oysters, other shellfish and all manner of fish I did not recognise.

Further down the road was the “Porcelain House” a very popular tourist spot for locals and foreign visitors.

This French style villa was covered in fragments of porcelain including thousands of ancient vases, plates, and bowls Marble carvings, crystals, and stone sculptures and   Features a huge dragon decoration made from ceramic pieces along the roof  and combines Chinese ceramic art with European architecture

Built and transformed by collector Zhang Lianzhi He spent 20+ years collecting porcelain and several years decorating the building.

Personally I found it quite underwhelming and not really worth the visit with a lot of hassle by guides dressed as policemen trying to get you to join their group.

After a short rest back at our hotel we ventured out in the evening and strolled along the riverside promenade.

Diane spotted a German style bar advertising “happy hour” with half price drinks and it took little to persuade Gary and I to agree to a cold beer.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and night fell , suddenly the whole area was bathed in light from an absolutely stunning light and laser show.

Stunning lasers centred on the century clock

And so ended our first day in Tianjin in truly spectacular style.

TTFN

Bibbley