Okok.. I admit I delayed on my updates on my trip to Tianjin. Was busy touching up photos.. Plus I have troubled accessing to WordPress or Facebook. I have to do it back home in Singapore, a week later.
So where do I start..
Tianjin is considered to be a small city with approx 13 million people. I daren’t say that there are no tourist spots as I have not done my research on that. =p The people are generally friendly but I problem with communicating in mandarin. Although I think my mandarin is getting better, but sometime my brain just refused to acknowledge the language and wish english is the next option!
One thing that strike me was there were no burning joss sticks seen around the town. No sticking on the ground, no statue of ‘guan yin’ or any sign that the Tianjin people worshipped at. The town is really clean in that sense. My guide told me that the Chinese people here ‘trust themselves than the god!’ Unless we go down south like Hong Kong. I find that statement hilarious though.. No offense! Indeed.. even in Singapore you will see local Chinese practicing Buddhism openly. I wonder why i see less… in mainland china .
I managed to go to a nearby tourist place where you can buy souvenirs or even taste local food. These long street that surrounded by old architecture gave me the sense of real ‘chinese’ feeling. It is much better than to see modern tall building which you can find anywhere else in the world. I came across an uncle who made sweets as a carrier. Made from sugar and possibly honey, he twisted and turned it into a desire shape requested by his customer. It hardened after a few minutes. It was just too cute to be eaten – showed in the pictures below.
Moving on…
It’s my 5th day in Tianjin.. and I never fail to learn something new. I did question a lot of things to myself why the locals did this and that. Curiosity just hit me again and again.
Let’s look at the marvels. Tall sky scrapers are under construction. Buildings looked modern everywhere.. There are small alley that surprises you and you can’t help noticing 2 different income gap of people. I have to emphasize – HUGE gap. There are malls, for high-end shoppers. but the thing is.. There are almost no shoppers in the mall. It is relatively an empty mall. It does makes sense though.. the locals here do not shop for Prada or Gucci. Maybe there are not many middle-income locals around here. You are either high or low-income earner. Huge gap! You can feel it as u literally walking through huge buildings and dark alleys, side by side.
I tried to communicate in mandarin as much as I possibly can. Met a security guard while waiting for the new lift to take me down to the first floor. It was not fully operational yet so someone (A) was operating it from inside. The job of the security guard (B) at that point was to call for the guy (A) to open the door for anyone who wants to use the lift. I was there.. He was a new security guard. Instead of helping me.. He stood beside me smiling and literally staring at me in the face because he did not see many new foreign faces a lot.. like myself. Curiosity must have struck him – I’m non-Chinese and can speak mandarin. I decided to use the stairs just in case he might stared at me the whole day. I couldn’t let myself get angry on that day… He was just innocent. A villager trying to make it in the city.
……..
Today is my last day in Tianjin. We are greeted with smog. It is normal for northern China with desert around the corner and industrialization. Generally it is a different experience for me. Humble people I met. Friendly people do make up for what is lacking in the city. A ghost city literally! I will be back for few months time though.
It’s time to pack my bag and head down south tomorrow morning. Good night.
Xoxo
Azahar
azaharrashid 