Snapshots of our life in Tianjin, China and travel within the region.
One of my great regrets about our year in Tianjin was my failure to capture the brilliance and hilarity that is the English language restaurant menu. It is worth going out to eat for that alone, even if the repercussion of said venture includes the digestion of certain unthinkable delicacies. Well, I don’t have those awesome menu…
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About a 40 minute car ride from the Huangya Pass Great Wall in Ji County (northern China, outside Beijing and north of Tianjin) lies a vast tomb complex called the Eastern Qing Tombs a/k/a “Qing Dongling.” What are the Eastern Qing Tombs (Qing Dongling)? The Eastern Qing Tombs are touted as the most complete and…
Read More![The [Great] Wall Less Traveled ... Hiking the Huangya Pass in Tianjin's Ji County](https://tongatime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Huangya-Pass-Ji-Country-58.jpg)
If you happen to be visiting the Beijing area, you probably don’t have the Huangya Pass on your to-do list, but you probably do have The Great Wall of China. Of course you do. It’s THE Great Wall! The trouble is, which wall do you see? People don’t talk about that so much. In fact,…
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One of the great things about living in Tianjin is the assortment of places to eat. Eating out in China encompasses every conceivable venue: street food, cafes, restaurants …. But the highlight of dining out here remains the simple, unassuming menu. You know, the English ones. The ones with little pictures accompanying awesome captions that…
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When our tour bus pulls into the Panshan Ski Resort at 8:30 in the morning, I peer out the frosty windows, unsure of what to expect. Our “guide” walks down the isle, collects a 300 RMB deposit from each of us — (a surprise because we’ve already paid our admission fee) — then disappears for…
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(The below article was first published in JIN Magazine’s February 2014 issue) When Sam and I first arrived in Tianjin, we were excited to explore the local eateries near our hotel. The trouble was, our language lessons had not advanced beyond basic greetings and naturally, all the shops and restaurants were identified by Chinese characters….
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*This article on my experience locating and purchasing a genuine Flying Pigeon bicycle in Tianjin, China was published in JIN Magazine‘s January 2014 issue, and re-posted on the government’s tourism site, exploringtianjin (dot) com.* (UPDATE: Upon review, it appears that the article has been moved to a new China Daily website, so I have updated…
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Tianjin is well-known for its shopping. Malls are everywhere here, and that is no exaggeration. Sam and I marvel at how so many stores and so many mega-buildings — with new shopping malls going up every month — manage to stay in business. If I were sixteen with some cash to blow, I’d be in…
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Just to the west of Tianjin’s famous pedestrian shopping street of Binjiang Dao, lies Tianjin’s Antique Market (called “Guwan Shichang”). While the traditionally-styled wooden shops and street-side stands that make up the antique market are often identified as beginning at the cross roads of Shandong Lu (“Lu” means street) and Shanyang Dao (“Dao” means road), it…
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When all you have is a bicycle, getting those few western groceries in China can be a challenge. Especially if you have unfortunate predilections towards real coffee that isn’t instant, Splenda and non-melamine milk. Some stores deliver of course, such as D-Mart or the Good Friends Store, but to see what is actually in stock,…
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