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Geography
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.
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Location
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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.
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
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
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.
Tianjin and surrounding areas
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