Tianjin
:
Tianjin is also that name of an asteroid, see 2209 Tianjin:
天津 (Celestial ford) is also the name of an asterism in the Chinese constellation of Girl Mansion (女宿) (;
Postal System Pinyin:
Tientsin) is one of the four
municipalities of the
People's Republic of China. As a municipality, Tianjin has
provincial-level status and comes directly under the central government. Tianjin's urban area is the third largest city in Mainland China.
Tianjin's urban area is located along the
Hai He River. Its ports, some distance away, are located on
Bohai Gulf of the
Pacific Ocean. Tianjin Municipality borders
Hebei province to the north, south, and west; the municipality of
Beijing in a small portion to the northwest; and
Bohai Gulf to the east.
See also: Concessions in TianjinThe land where Tianjin lies today was created in historical times by
sedimentation of various rivers entering the sea at
Bohai Bay, including the
Yellow River, which entered the sea in this area at one point.
The opening of the
Grand Canal of China during the
Sui Dynasty prompted the development of Tianjin into a trading center. Until
1404 Tianjin was called "Zhigu" (直沽), or "Straight Port". In that year, the
Emperor Yongle renamed the city "Tianjin", literally "Heaven Ford", to mean that the
emperor (son of heaven) forded the river at that point. This is because he had indeed forded the river at Tianjin while on a campaign to wrest the throne from his nephew. A fort was established at Tianjin, known as "Tianjin Wei" (T: 天津衛 / S: 天津卫), meaning "Fort Tianjin".
Tianjin was promoted to a
prefecture in
1725. Tianjin County was established under the prefecture in
1731.
In
1856 Chinese soldiers boarded
The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in
Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and of being engaged in the opium trade. They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. In response the
British and
French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir
Michael Seymour to capture the
Taku forts near Tianjin in May
1858. At the end of the first part of the
Second Opium War in June of the same year, the
Treaties of Tianjin were signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade. The treaties were ratified by the
Emperor of China in
1860, and Tianjin was formally opened to the outside world. Between
1895 and
1900 Britain and
France were joined by the empires of
Japan,
Germany and
Russia, and even by countries without other Chinese
concessions such as
Austria-Hungary,
Italy and
Belgium, in establishing self-contained
concessions in Tianjin, each with its own prisons, schools, barracks and hospitals. For a map, see [
1]
The presence of foreign influence in Tianjin was not always peaceful; one of the most serious violent incidents to take place was the
Tianjin Church Incident (天津教案). In June
1870,
Wanghailou Church (T: 望海"教堂 / S: 望海楼教堂) in Tianjin, built by
French missionaries one year earlier, was implicated in the kidnapping, death by neglect, and improper burial of Chinese children. On
June 21, the
magistrate of Tianjin County initiated a showdown at the church that developed into violent clashes between the church's Christian supporters and non-Christian Tianjin residents. The furious protestors eventually burned down
Wanghailou Church and the nearby French consulate. After the incident, France and six other Western nations complained to the
Qing government, which was forced to pay compensation for the incident.
In June
1900, the
Boxers were able to seize control of much of Tianjin. On
June 26 belligerent European forces headed towards
Beijing were stopped by Boxers at nearby
Langfang, and were defeated and forced to turn back to Tianjin. The foreign concessions also came under siege for several weeks.
Tianjin was established as a
municipality of China in
1927.
On
July 30,
1937, Tianjin fell to
Japan, as part of the
Second Sino-Japanese War, but not entirely occupied, respecting non-foe foreign concessions. During the occupation Tianjin was ruled by the
North China Executive Committee, a
puppet state based in
Beijing. Japanese occupation lasted until
August 15,
1945, the surrender of
Japan marking the end of
World War II.
After
1945, Tianjin became base to
American forces. In December
1946, the
rape of a Beiping (now
Beijing) female university student by an American soldier, together with a series of
rapes that had previously occurred in Tianjin, sparked protests in Tianjin that culminated in a demonstration on
January 1,
1947 involving thousands of students. American troops pulled out of Tianjin in June
1947.
Communist forces took Tianjin on
January 15,
1949, following a 29-hour long battle. After communist takeover, Tianjin remained a
municipality of China, except between
1958 and
1967, when it was reduced to be a part of and the capital of
Hebei province. The
Tangshan earthquake of
1976 killed 23,938 people in Tianjin and did heavy damage.
After China began to open up in the late
1970s, Tianjin has seen rapid development, though it is now lagging behind other important cities like
Shanghai,
Beijing, and
Guangzhou. The city's current mayor is Dai Xianglong.
Tianjin is at the northern end of the
Grand Canal of China, which connects with the
Huang He and
Yangtze rivers.
Tianjin Municipality is generally flat, and swampy near the coast, but hilly in the far north, where the
Yanshan Mountains pass through the tip of northern Tianjin. The highest point in Tianjin is
Jiushanding Peak on the northern border with
Hebei, at an altitude of 1078
m.
The
Hai He River forms within Tianjin Municipality at the confluence of the
Ziya River,
Daqing River,
Yongding River,
North Grand Canal, and
South Grand Canal; and enters the
Pacific Ocean at Tianjin Municipality as well, in
Dagu District. Major reservoirs include the
Beidagang Reservoir in the extreme south (in
Dagang District) and the
Yuqiao Reservoir in the extreme north (in
Ji County).
The urban area of Tianjin is found in the south-central part of the Municipality. In addition to the main urban area of Tianjin proper, the coast along the Bohai is lined with a series of port towns, including
Tanggu and
Hangu.
Tianjin's
climate is characterized by hot, humid
summers, due to the
monsoon, and dry, cold
winters, due to the
Siberian
anticyclone. Spring is windy but dry, and most of the
precipitation takes place in July and August. Tianjin also experiences occasional sandstorms which blow in from the Gobi Desert and may last for several days.
|
Tianjin's Hexi Qu (district). |
|
Tianjin's Heping Qu (district) |
|
Modern buildings in Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) |
Tianjin is divided into 18
county-level divisions, including 15
districts and 3
counties.Six of the districts govern the urban area of Tianjin:
*
Heping District (
Simplified Chinese: '平区;
Hanyu Pinyin: Hépíng Qū)
*
Hexi District (河西区 Héxī Qū)
*
Hebei District (河北区 Héběi Qū)
*
Nankai District (南开区 Nánkāi Qū)
*
Hedong District (河东区 Hédōng Qū)
*
Hongqiao District (红桥区 Hōngqiáo Qū)
Three of the districts govern towns and harbours along the seacoast:
*
Tanggu District (塘沽区 Tánggū Qū)
*
Hangu District (汉沽区 Hàngū Qū)
*
Dagang District (大港区 Dàgǎng Qū)
Four of the districts govern satellite towns and rural areas close to the urban center:
*
Jinnan District (津南区 Jīnnán Qū)
*
Dongli District (东丽区 Dōnglì Qū)
*
Xiqing District (西'区 Xīqīng Qū)
*
Beichen District (北辰区 Běichén Qū)
Two of the districts as well as the three counties govern towns and rural areas further away from the urban center:
*
Baodi District (宝坻区 Bǎodǐ Qū) — Baodi County before
2001*
Wuqing District (武清区 W"qīng Qū) — Wuqing County before
2000*
Ji County ("县 Jì Xiàn)
*
Jinghai County (静海县 Jìnghǎi Xiàn)
*
Ninghe County (宁河县 Nínghé Xiàn)
In addition, the
Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) is not a formal level of administration, but nevertheless enjoys rights similar to a regular district.
These districts and counties are further subdivided, as of
December 31,
2004, into 240
township-level divisions, including 120
towns, 18
townships, 2
ethnic townships and 100
subdistricts.
The nominal GDP for Tianjin was 366.4 billion yuan (US$45.8 billion) in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. [
2]
In 2004, per capita GDP was 31,600 yuan. The
manufacturing sector was the largest (53.2%) and fastest-growing (19.8%) sector of Tianjin's economy. Urban
disposable income per capita was 11,467 yuan, a
real increase of 11.2% from the previous year. Rural
pure income per capita was 6,525 yuan, a
real increase of 11.3% from the previous year. [
3]
Farmland takes up about 40% of Tianjin Municipality's total area.
Wheat,
rice, and
maize are the most important crops.
Fishing is important along the coast. Tianjin is also an important industrial base. Major industries include
petrochemical industries,
textiles,
car manufacturing, mechanical industries, and
metalworking.
Tianjin Municipality also has deposits of about 1 billion
tonnes of
petroleum, with
Dagang District containing important
oilfields.
Salt production is also important, with
Changlu Yanqu being one of China's most important salt production areas.
Geothermal energy is another resource of Tianjin. Deposits of
manganese and
boron under Tianjin were the first to be found in China.
At the end of
2004, the population of Tianjin Municipality was 10.24 million, of which 9.33 million were holders of Tianjin
hukou (permanent residence). Among Tianjin permanent residents, 5.56 million were urban, and 3.76 million were rural. [
4]
The majority of Tianjin residents are
Han Chinese.
Minorities include
Hui,
Koreans,
Manchus, and
Mongols.
Excludes members of the
People's Liberation Army in active service.
Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口'社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务"员会经济发展司), eds.
Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7105054255)
People from urban Tianjin speak
Tianjin dialect, which comes under the
Mandarin subdivision of
spoken Chinese. Despite its proximity to
Beijing,
Tianjin dialect sounds quite different from
Beijing dialect, which provides the basis for
Putonghua, official spoken language of the
People's Republic of China.
Tianjin cuisine places a heavy focus on
seafood, due to Tianjin's proximity to the sea. Prominent menus include the
Eight Great Bowls (八大碗), a combination of eight mainly meat dishes. It can be further classified into several varieties, including the rough (粗), smooth (S: 细 / T: 細), and high (高). The
Four Great Stews (四大') refers actually to a very large number of stews, including chicken, duck, seafood, beef, and mutton.
Tianjin also has several famous
snack items.
Goubuli (狗不理) is a traditional brand of
baozi (steamed buns with filling) that is famous throughout China.
Guifaxiang (S: 桂发祥 / T: 桂發祥) is a traditional brand of
mahua (twisted dough sticks).
Erduoyan (耳朵眼) is a traditional brand of fried rice cakes.
Tianjin is a respected home base of
Beijing opera, one of the most prestigious forms of
Chinese opera.
Ma Sanli (
1914 -
2003), an ethnic
Hui and longtime resident of Tianjin, is paramountly respected in China for his
xiangsheng, a hugely popular form of Chinese entertainment similar to
stand-up comedy. Ma Sanli delivered his
xiangsheng in the
Tianjin dialect.
Yangliuqing, a town about 15
km west of Tianjin's urban area and the seat of Tianjin's
Xiqing District, is famous for its popular
Chinese New Year-themed, traditional-style, colourful
wash paintings. Tianjin is also famous for
Zhang's clay figurines (S: 泥人张 / T: 泥人張) which are a type of colourful figurine depicting a variety of vivid characters, and Tianjin's
Wei's kites (S: 风筝魏 / T: 風箏魏), which can be folded to a fraction of their full sizes, are noted for portability.
Stereotypes
People from Tianjin are
stereotyped to be eloquent, humorous, open, and unfettered. There is a term for the stereotype of the always-eloquent and sometimes-humorous Tianjin native:
wèizuǐzi (S: 卫嘴子 / T: 衛嘴子), which translates roughly as "the Tianjin mouth". This stereotype is perhaps partially the result of
Ma Sanli's reputation (see "Culture" section above).
|
Tianjin East Railway Station |
|
Tianjin North Railway Station |
Main article: Transportation in Tianjin
Rail
There are several railway stations in the city,
Tianjin Railway Station being the principal one. It was built in
1888, initially, the station was located at Wangdaozhuang (S: 旺"庄 / T: 旺"莊). The station was later moved to
Laolongtou (S: 老龙头 / T: 老龍頭) on the banks of the
Hai He River in
1892, so the station was renamed
Laolongtou Railway Station. The station was rebuilt from scatch in
1988. The rebuilding work began on
April 15,
1987 and was finished on
October 1,
1988. The Tianjin Railway Station is also locally called the 'East Station', due to its geographical position.
Tianjin West Railway Station and
Tianjin North Railway Station are also major railway stations in Tianjin. There is also
Tanggu Railway Station is located in the important port area of
Tanggu District, and
TEDA Railway Station located in
TEDA, to the north of Tanggu. There are several other railway stations in the city.
Construction on a
Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail began on July 4, 2005, and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.
The following
railways of China go through Tianjin:
*
Jingshan Railway, from
Beijing to
Shanhai Pass*
Jinpu Railway, from Tianjin to
Pukou District,
Nanjing*
Jinji Railway, from Tianjin urban area to
Ji County, Tianjin
*
Jinba Railway, from Tianjin to
Bazhou,
HebeiRoads and expressways
Some spots in Tianjin, including roads and bridges, have names from Dr.
Sun Yat-Sen's
Three Principles of the People (for example, Minquan Gate on Zhonghuan Road). Names harkening back to the era of the
Republic of China on the mainland also appear (e.g. Beiyang Road). Many roads in Tianjin are named after a Chinese province or city. Also, Tianjin is unlike
Beijing, in that very few roads run parallel to the major four
compass directions.
Tianjin has three ring roads. Unlike Beijing, the Inner and Middle Ring Roads are not closed, traffic-controlled roadways and some often have traffic light intersections. The Outer Ring Road is the closest thing to a highway-level ring road, although traffic is often chaotic and sometimes more than chaotic.
*
Inner Ring Road (neihuan)*
Middle Ring Road (zhonghuan)*
Outer Ring Road (waihuan)Tianjin's roads often finish in
dao (" avenue),
xian (S: 线 / T: 線 line, more used for highways and through routes) and
lu (路 road).
Jie (街 street) is rare. As Tianjin's roads are rarely in a cardinal compass direction,
jing (S: 经 / T: ") roads and
wei (S: 纬 / T: 緯) roads often appear, which attempt to run more directly north-south and east-west, respectively.
The following seven
expressways of China run in or through Tianjin:
*
Jingjintang Expressway, from
Beijing, through Tianjin's urban area, to
Tanggu District /
TEDA*
Jinghu Expressway, from Jinjing Gonglu Bridge to
Shanghai (together with
Jingjintang Expressway, this is the expressway from
Beijing to
Shanghai)
*
Jingshen Expressway, through
Baodi District on its way from
Beijing to
Shenyang*
Tangjin Expressway, from
Tanggu District, Tianjin, to
Tangshan,
Hebei -- known in Tianjin as the Jintang Expressway*
Baojin Expressway, from
Beichen District, Tianjin, to
Baoding,
Hebei -- known in Tianjin as the Jinbao Expressway*
Jinbin Expressway, from Zhangguizhuang Bridge to Hujiayuan Bridge, both within Tianjin
*
Jinji Expressway, from central Tianjin to
Jixian County
The following six
China National Highways pass through Tianjin:
*
China National Highway 102, through
Ji County, Tianjin on its way from
Beijing to
Harbin*
China National Highway 103, from
Beijing, through Tianjin's urban area, to
Tanggu District*
China National Highway 104, from
Beijing, through Tianjin Municipality, to
Fuzhou*
China National Highway 105, from
Beijing, through Tianjin Municipality, to
Macau*
China National Highway 112, circular highway around Beijing, passes through Tianjin Municipality
*
China National Highway 205, from
Shanhaiguan,
Hebei, through Tianjin Municipality, to
GuangzhouAir
Tianjin Binhai International Airport (ZBTJ) is located to the east of the urban area, in
Dongli District, Tianjin.
Public transit
The Tianjin bus network was created in
1904, and was the first city to have its own city-wide bus system in China. There were 402 bus lines in the city as of
2004. [
5]
Construction work on the
Tianjin Metro started on
July 4,
1970. It was the second metro to be built in China and commenced service in
1984. The total length of track is 7.4 kilometers. The metro service was suspended on
October 9,
2001 and is currently being rebuilt. This new metro will be called "Tianjin Metro Line 1". It is scheduled to be finished in the later half of
2005. The track will be extended to 26.188 kilometers and there will be a total of 22 stations. Previously, there were 8 stations. Several new metro lines are planned. Construction work on Line 2 and Line 3 will begin in late
2004.
There is also a light railway line in the city, the
LRT Binhai Line. The line runs between downtown Tianjin and
TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area) in the seaside region. The eastern part of the line began service on
March 28,
2004. The western part of the line is scheduled to be completed in
2006.
Sights within the Tianjin urban area include:
*
Luzutang (
Boxer Rebellion Museum)
*
Shijia Dayuan (Shi Family Residence)
*
Temple of Great Compassion (Dabeiyuan)
*
Tianhougong*
Wanghailou Church, site of the
1870 Tianjin Church Incident*
Xikai Church*
Zhou-Deng MuseumSights outside the Tianjin urban area, but within the municipality, include:
*
Fort Dagukou,
Qing Dynasty-era cannon battlement
*
Huangyaguan Great Wall
*
Mount PanshanSports teams based in Tianjin include:
Chinese Football Association Super League*
Tianjin Teda FCColleges and universities
|
Tianjin Foreign Language University |
Under the national Ministry of Education:
*
Tianjin University (天津大学) (founded 1895)
*
Nankai University (南开大学) (founded 1919)Under the national Civil Aviation Authority:
*
Civil Aviation University of China (中国民"航空学院)
Under the municipal government:
*
Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (天津美术学院)
*
Tianjin Agricultural College (天津农学院)
*
Tianjin Conservatory of Music (天津音乐学院)
*
Tianjin Foreign Studies University (天津外国语学院)
*
Tianjin Institute of Physical Education (天津"育学院)
*
Tianjin Medical University (天津医科大学)
*
Tianjin Normal University (天津师范大学)
*
Tianjin Polytechnic University (天津工业大学)
*
Tianjin University of Commerce China (天津商学院)
*
Tianjin University of Finance & Economics (天津财经大学)
*
Tianjin University of Science & Technology (天津科技大学)
*
Tianjin University of Technology (天津理工大学)
*
Tianjin University of Technology and Education (天津职业技术师范学院)
*
Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (天津中医学院)
*
Tianjin Urban Construction Institute (天津城市建设学院)
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
High schools
*
Nankai High School (南开中学) City's Top Five
*
No. 1 High School (第一中学) City's Top Five
*
Tianjin No. 3 Middle School (天津市第三中学)
*
Shiyan High School (实验中学) City's Top Five
*
Xinhua High School (新华中学) City's Top Five
*
Yaohua High School (耀华中学) City's Top Five
*
No. 43 High School (天津四十三中学)
| City | Country! Sister City since: | | Kobe | Japan | June 24, 1973 |
| Philadelphia | United States | February 10, 1980 |
| Melbourne | Australia | May 5, 1980 |
| Yokkaichi | Japan | October 28, 1980 |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | May 28, 1981 |
| Nord-Pas de Calais | France | October 10, 1984 |
| Lombardy | Italy | May 9, 1985 |
| Groningen | Netherlands | September 12, 1985 |
| Chiba | Japan | May 7, 1986 |
| Plovdiv Region | Bulgaria | October 15, 1989 |
| İzmir | Turkey | September 23, 1991 |
| Abidjan | Côte d'Ivoire | September 26, 1992 |
| Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia | September 27, 1992 |
| Kharkiv | Ukraine | June 14, 1993 |
| Jönköping | Sweden | September 23, 1993 |
| Incheon | South Korea | December 7, 1993 |
| Łódź | Poland | October 1, 1994 |
| Rio de Janeiro State | Brazil | April 18, 1995 |
| Amazonas State | Brazil | October 20, 1997 |
| Haiphong | Vietnam | January 8, 1999 |
| Nampo | North Korea | August 11, 2002 |
Source: http://www.tjfao.gov.cn/guojiyoucheng/shijiyouhao/index.html
At , the previous total
solar eclipse was
solar eclipse of 1277-Oct-28 occurred on
October 28 1277, the next total
solar eclipse will be
solar eclipse of 2187-Jul-06 occurred on
July 6 2187.
Total solar eclipses from
1001 to
3000 are:
* 1277-Oct-28 13:21 CST
* 2187-Jul-06 17:13 CST
* 2415-Apr-10 10:49 CST
* 2636-May-27 05:09 CST
* 2762-Aug-12 09:43 CST
Annular solar eclipses from
1001 to
3000 are:
* 1189-Feb-17 11:37 CST
* 1292-Jan-21 13:30 CST
* 1665-Jan-16 16:42 CST
* 1802-Aug-28 15:48 CST
* 2118-Mar-22 15:33 CST
* 2439-Jun-12 07:52 CST
* 2686-Sep-10 07:12 CST
* 2739-Apr-30 08:41 CST
* 2894-Dec-18 14:38 CST
Wikisource has
an article about solar eclipses as seen from Tianjin from 2001 to 3000.
*
Official site*
Large map of Tianjin region*
Tianjin Links *
Tianjin Expats: A website for foreigners living in Tianjin*
WorldStatesmen- China
