(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Tianjin:
Origin of name - "heaven" and "river ford" = "emperor's ford"

Population (2004) 10,240,000

Tianjin is one of the four municipalities of China that are directly under the central government and have provincial-level status. Its urban area is the third largest in China, after Shanghai and Beijing.

Tianjin's urban area is located along the Hai He River. Its ports, some distance away, are located on Bohai Gulf in the Pacific Ocean. Tianjin Municipality borders Hebei province to the north, south, and west; the municipality of Beijing is to the northwest, and Bohai Gulf to the east.

One of the joys of my job in a university is meeting so many brilliant and charming overseas students. One of them, a Chinese lady from Tianjin, emailed me while I was in Beijing to ask if I'd like to catch up- and perhaps to show her what little I knew of Beijing. She was to be my guest. Then, in the best tradition of Chinese hospitality, she proposed that the next day I should go to Tianjin as her guest. We even went to Beijing Railway to rehearse my departure as well as see her off.

One travel tip that did not emerge until I attempted the return to my hotel was that one does not take a cab from the rank opposite the station. Every driver, it seems, is waiting to fleece a foreigner. One has to walk at least a block to hail a passing cab driver who agrees to turn his meter on and follow directions.

So I got up on time, made it to Beijings awesome railway station, had one tiny problem finding the right gate - solved by a uniformed official who spoke English - found my train, my carriage and my seat. China's trains are clean, fast and comfortable. According to the digital display in my carriage we reached 167 kph on our way to Tianjin and it is government policy to upgrade the tracks until 200 kph is possible.

My friend met the train and thereafter wouldn't let me pay for anything. It was a delight to see her again and discover her life since graduating from my university. Because she needed to visit her local branch of the Bank of China my first impression of Tianjin was of the commercial area - which reminded me a lot of the Bund in Shanghai - elegant and well preserved buildings in a distinctly 19th Century British style. Tianjin is a museum of European architecture.

My second impression was that it did not seem to be the least crowded, or especially polluted.

I committed my first faux pas when I attempted to photograph the Olympic mascots in the Bank and the guard freaked out. My friend asked me to wait outside. The Bank of China is responsible for selling the games tickets. Then my friend shouted me an excellent meal in a very posh restaurant. Next it was off to Guwenhua Jie, the Ancient Culture Street.

I did find this interesting, as my friend expected. The trouble was this is a tourist attraction and on this day tourists were thin on the ground. I felt like the only girl in the harem. Notwithstanding Guwenhua Jie is definitely worth seeing - an odd mixture of genuine culture and strictly commercial (sometimes in the same shop!).

We went to Starbucks to relieve my caffeine addiction and then took a taxi to the station. That's when I made my second faux pas. As soon as we stepped out of the cab and started the 30 yards to the ticket office a man and a woman started yelling at my friend and me that we should pay 30+ rmb for me to ride to Beijing in his car. I would have to be insane to give up a safe, comfortable train seat for a ride with a carload of strangers.

There was no way but they wouldn't give up, not for a second. By the time we reached the ticket office I lost it and yelled SHUT UP!. . . Everything stopped, as though a bomb had gone off. Then my friend hurriedly intervened to assure everyone I was just a dumb foreigner who meant no harm. For me the lesson was that I have absolutely no idea how it feels to be so desperately poor in a country with no social safety net.

We waited for my train in a little cafe where even a pot of tea seemed to stretch their resouces. We watched a slideshow of my friends beautiful photos from her European holidays on her laptop. Gradually both the staff and the clients began to drift past to sneak a look at the new Chinese woman, her computer, her photographs and her foreign friend.

There are four million cars in Beijing. Imagine how many bicycles there are!