Tianjin, 137 kilometers southeast of Beijing, is located at 39.8 North
and 117.2 East, covering area of 11919.7 square kilometers, the city is bordering on the Bohai Sea in the east. It is one of three municipalities of China directly under the Central Government. The five main tributaries of the Haihe River, namely, the Yongding, Daqing, Ziya, Nanyunhe and Chaobai, coverage here to from the Haihe River, which flows through the city and empties into Bohai Sea at Dagukou. The terrain in Tianjin is low and flat, with an altitude of only two to five metres above sea level. Most part of the city is on the Haihe Plain. (Info for your China vacations)
Climate
The climate of Tianjin is temperate, continental-type monsoon climate with four seasons distinct from one another. The mean temperature of the year is 12.2ºC ( 53.96ºF) with that of January being -4ºC (24.8 ºF) and that of July 26.8ºC ( 80.24ºF) . The average annual rainfall is 559.1mm, most of which is concentrated in summer. The freezing period of ports lasts 80 days.
General Information
Tianjin is China’s third largest city, an independent municipality with a population of 10.01million (2006) that is a major commercial and industrial center as well as the biggest port in north China. 137 kilometers (85 miles) southeast of Beijing, Tianjin is situated at the confluence of five tributaries of the Haihe River, 50 km from the Gulf of Bohai. (Hope you can find useful information for your China vacations here)
Tianjin is best known for its streetscapes of colonial era buildings, a residue of its status as a Treaty Port after 1858. Now a center of multinational businesses concentrated in the new satellite city known as TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area), Tianjin has an extensive modern infrastructure, and is known for the high quality of its industrial products.
Early settlement in the Tianjin region dates back to the Warring States period, but Tianjin’s later prominence was primarily tied to the rise of nearby Beijing as the capital of northern nomadic dynasties and later of the country as a whole. Tianjin served primarily as a storage, sale, and distribution center for agricultural products from the south in the 12th century. Under the Mongols, who first established Beijing as the capital of the entire country, Tianjin served as a storage and trans-shipment point for the grain taxes that were shipped from the south.
Tianjin’s prosperity proved a lure for Western trading nations. In 1856 British and French troops used the boarding of a British ship by Chinese troops in search of pirates as an excuse to attack the forts guarding the Haihe River. The defeated Chinese were forced to sign the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin, which opened the port to foreign trade and the sale of opium. Other European nations and Japan followed, establishing distinctive independent concessions on the riverside areas, each with a distinctive architectural style — variously English Victorian, Italian Roman style streets, French chateaux styles, and German Bavarian villas.
Tianjin became a center of urban modernization and internationalism in the early years of the 20th century. Hotels like the Astor received famous guests such as Herbert Hoover and Sun Yat-sen, and one of China’s first elevators was installed there in 1924. Meanwhile, heavy silting of the Haihe River led to construction of a new port at Tanggu, 50 km downriver, as Tianjin lost its character as a major port city. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake caused extensive damage to the city, and it was closed to foreign visitors until repairs were completed. The establishment of the Tianjin Economic and Development Area was a major spur to investment and economic revitalization.
Tianjin Local Products (Hepful for your China vacations)
Tianjin is renowned for Xiaozhan rice and teems with yellow croakers, Chinese herrings, Spanish mackerels, chub mackerels and prawn. Tianjin exports large quantities of Chinese cabbages, small and beans and green turnips. Handicraft articles such as carpets, kites and painted clay figurines as well as Yangliuqing New Year pictures enjoy high reputation abroad. Besides, tablecloth, embroidered blouses, woven straw articles, play diabolo, Western-style silver cutlery, headdresses, jewellery, jade and ivory carving are also very famous.
Brief History of Tianjin (good for your China vacations to know some history of Tianjin)
Tianjin gradually took shape in 12th century when more and more settlements were established. It was a county town in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and became a municipality in 1928. After the attack by the Anglo- French aggressor troops 1860.Tianjin was then turned into a trading port. Tianjin became one of centres of industry foreign trade and science-technology of socialist China now.
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[Source: chinatour.com]