This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Weiqi Gao. Original Post: Tianjin Trip Pictures Feed Title: Weiqi Gao's Weblog Feed URL: http://www.weiqigao.com/blog/rss.xml Feed Description: Sharing My Experience... Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Weiqi Gao Latest Posts From Weiqi Gao's Weblog

I've been back from the Tianjin trip for 12 days. Aside from visiting family, I also played tourist in my home town. Here's some pictures and impressions.

The Tianjin Radio and Television Tower (天塔) from the back window

The tower was the tallest tower in Asia and the third tallest in the World, behind the CN Tower in Toronto and the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, when it was completed in 1991. You can see how prominent it is in the Tianjin skyline in the Wikipedia picture that I used in the last blog entry.

Tianjin Ancient Culture Street (古文化街)

The "Ancient Culture Streat" is a pedestrian street of about half a mile long, lined with shops and restaurants in traditional Chinese style buildings. The street has been in existence for more than 800 years. The buildings, however, are "rebuilt to restore the ancient scene" in the 1990's.

Tianjin Book Tower (图书大厦)

One of the many high rise buildings that has sprout up in the last twenty years. The first seven floors constitutes a giant book store. Educational books/DVDs are popular here due to Chinese traditional values that puts education in (very) high esteem. One of the many television screens shows a classroom lecture of high school geometry.

Wang Hai Lou Church (望海楼)

A Catholic church built in the 1860's by the French after part of Tianjin was conceded to the West in the Second Opium War of 1856-1858.

Statute of Liang Qichao (梁启超) in front of his old residence (now a museum)

Liang Qichao (梁启超, 1873-1929) was a scholar/politician in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic period. He was instrumental in the failed 1898 100-day reform movement and went to exile until the 1911 revolution that established the Republic. He lived in Tianjin in his later life, after his political career.

Tianjin traffic

And I would be remiss if I don't show you a scene of Tianjin traffic. There were many times when I thought "I should take a picture" when I was in the crazy traffic. In this picture, a taxi driver (the red dot on the dashboard says "empty taxi") decided that he has waited at a red light long enough and the the gap between out car and the car in front of us is wide enough for him the turn around and go the other way.