We arrived at Xingang, (the access port to Beijing) China, and after breakfast left on our transfer coach to the town of
Tianjin. It only took about 20mins to arrive at The Friendship Store in the city. The morning was very overcast and the pollution was very obvious. The modern shops had many things for sale including two cup thermos flasks for lots of dollars. After a short visit we walked out on the street and continued checking out the shops.
People here seemed very friendly and the shops along here were mostly malls and sold many and varied items. The
road was very wide and the traffic was quite thick - even for this time of morning. The food sellers had some interesting items
for sale, some looked like caramel bananas!!
Some way up the street was a tall building that looked like a hotel. We headed for this and found we could use the lift
to go to the very top where a view of the city (albeit very hazy) could be seen. The restaurant was a revolving one so we got to see the
whole 360 degree view and so we managed to pick out some of the city highlights as we progressed. As we spent some time here we had a relaxing
local beer before we ventured down to return to our meeting place to go back to the ship.
Tianjin is actually China's 3rd biggest city after Shanghai and Beijing. There are a couple of things to see, the Large Temple of Confucius and the Tianjin Museum which mainly has arts and craft
alog with local history on display. One interesting fact we were told is that China occupies one-fourteenth of the earth's surface
and has the most population of any country in the world.
Another fascinating place to visit and one which shows a different lifestyle to others we have visited.
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