Tour of Tianjin (Zach)

大家好！March has been my first full month back in China and it’s safe to say that China has truly become a second home for me. Settling in again has been relatively easy and I’m back into a good schedule; going to the gym frequently, playing sports again as the weather has been scorching, and studying of course. Recently, me and Sonny took a trip to 五大道 (Five Avenues).

I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the really expensive looking houses, houses that had been owned by famous people at some point in history. It was refreshing to see buildings that weren’t our uni buildings nor the sky piercing flats outside the gates.

The Tianjin Minyuan Stadium was especially busy with lots of bustling crowds trying to make their way round the sports museum and the various shops and cafes dotted about, whilst many people rested on the grass to take in the warm sunlight that we’d been missing.

Tianjin has a lot of sights to see and this was just one of the places I wanted to visit whilst I was here and I thoroughly enjoyed it and to any future scholars - I’m sure you will too!

Tour of Tianjin (Erin)

As soon as I figured out how to use the subway system; which is only a fifteen-minute walk from campus, it has been very convenient and easy to explore all the major sights and cool stuff around the city.

Night Market

The night market is located just outside of campus and is the best place to go out for food and drinks. Although most of it was closed during cold winter months, on warmer days, there are so many options and varieties of food, jewelery, nick-knacks and even fortune teller stalls to choose from, which are super affordable. My personal favourites are the beef noodles, jiangbing guozi ( Chinese hamburger originated in Tianjin) and of course the kebab stands where we often go with friends to hang out.

Hepinglu 

Hepinglu is a massive shopping center only a few subway stops away from campus. It has 8 stories of luxury shops from both Chinese and western clothing brands, coffee and bubble tea shops (my favourite Chinese brands are chaggee and bingxue), bakeries and restaurants. The streets around it have such cute and unique shops: MINISO being a go-to, where you can quite literally find anything, you can think of.

China House

Located in the avenues around Hepinglu, it's such a stunning historical marble house, worth a visit. When we visited, the staff were all very enthusiastic to see foreigners and even roped us into doing a catwalk and filming TikTok's with them. Such a random but fun experience.

Century Clock Tower, Haihe River

Located in the very center of the city, the buildings light up at night and in winter the river is frozen over, so you can walk on it.

Tianjin Eye

So iconic in Tianjin city, and even more gorgeous at night, there are bubble tea places nearby where i sometimes like to study with a great view. It even has a night market nearby.

Culture Street and Temples

Most authentic Chinese marketplace, it is so easy to get lost in all the alleyways of traditional Chinese architecture and even buy a few snacks.  ‘White rabbits’ are especially popular around locals.

Beijing

In all honesty, I spend most of my weekends in Beijing with a good friend I met who lives there, as it's only a half an hour train away from Tianjin, it's very easy to get to, so I would say I know Beijing better. We have a lot in common and became close especially because of our tastes in music. He likes to show me around his favourite spots in the city and most of the time you'll find us hanging out at a live house in the hutongs where they play punk rock shows most nights with up-and-coming Chinese bands. This is my all-time favourite place and it's great for meeting new people and practicing my Chinese.  By day we go to some cool historical sites around the city such as; Lamas temple (i was taught how to pray to the Buddhist statues), Tibetan style white pagoda, Beihai park and even the zoo.