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Tianjin (天津; pinyin: tiān jīn, Postal System Pinyin: Tientsin) is a harbour
municipality in China on the Hai He River (from Beijing) and Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea (Pacific Ocean). The placename literally
means "the Heavenly Port".
Tianjin is one of four independent municipalities in the People's Republic of China with provincial-level status. Historically, the city
was, for a time, the capital of Hebei Province.
History
The city was first settled in 1404 AD during the Ming Dynasty as a fort, named Tianjin Wei (Fort Tianjin).
Tianjin was established as a county in 1731.
In 1856 Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in
Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and of being
engaged in the opium trade. They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. In response the British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir
Michael Seymour to capture the Taku forts near Tianjin in May 1858. The city was subsequently opened to foreign trade in
June 1858, at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War, when the Treaties of
Tianjin were signed.
Between 1895 and 1900 Britain and France were joined by Japan,Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Belgium in establishing self-contained concessions each with their own prisons, schools, barracks and
hospitals.
In June 1900 the foreign concessions came under
siege during the Boxer Rebellion for several weeks. Herbert Hoover, the future President of the United States, was working in Tianjin at the time as chief engineer
in the Chinese government's imperial bureau of mines, and together with fellow engineers built a protective wall against the
attackers and risked his own life rescuing Chinese children.
Tianjin has been municipality since 1927, except from 1958 to 1967, when it was reduced to a provincial city and capital of Hebei province.
Geography
Tianjin is at the northern end of the Grand Canal of
China, which connects with the Huang He and Chang Jiang rivers. Tianjin borders Hebei province, the municipality of
Beijing and the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea.
Economy
The GDP per capita was ¥20443 (ca. US$2470) in 2003, ranked no. 56 among 659 Chinese cities.
Political divisions
Tianjin is divided into fifteen districts and three counties The six districts close to the "urban region" (市区:
Shì Qū) are
- Heping District (和平区: Hèpíng Qū)
- Hexi District
(河西区: Héxī Qū)
- Hebei District
(河北区: Héběi Qū)
- Nankai District
(南开区: Nánkāi Qū)
- Hedong District
(河东区: Hédōng Qū)
- Hongqiao District
(红桥区: Hōngqiáo Qū)
The outer districts and counties: The "Seaside region" (滨海区: Bīn Hǎi Qū):
- Tanggu District
(塘沽区: Tánggū Qū)
- Hangu District
(汉沽区: Hàngū Qū)
- Dagang District
(大港区: Dàgǎng Qū)
The "region around the city" (环城区: Huán Chéng Qū) are:
- Jinnan District
(津南区: Jīnnán Qū)
- Dongli District
(东丽区: Dōnglí Qū)
- Xiqing District
(西青区: Xīqīng Qū)
- Baodi District
(宝坻区: Bǎodǐ Qū, Baodi County before 2001)
- Beichen District
(北辰区: Běichén Qū)
- Wuqing District
(武清区: Wǔqīng Qū, Wuqing County before 2000)
The counties:
- Ji County (蓟县 Jì
Xiàn)
- Jinghai County
(静海县 Jìnghǎi Xiàn)
- Ninghe County
(宁河县 Nínghé Xiàn)
Colleges and Universities
[National]
[Public]
- Tianjin Polytechnic University (天津工业大学)
- Tianjin University of Science & Technology
(天津科技大学)
- Tianjin Medical University (天津医科大学)
- Tianjin
Normal University (天津师范大学)
- Civil Aviation University of China
(中国民用航空学院)
- Tianjin University of Technology (天津理工大学)
- Tianjin Urban Construction Institute
(天津城市建设学院)
- Tianjin Agricultural College (天津农学院)
- Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
(天津中医学院)
- Tianjin University of Technology and Education
(天津职业技术师范学院)
- Tianjin Foreign Studies
University (天津外国语学院)
- Tianjin University of Finance & Economics
(天津财经大学)
- Tianjin University of Commerce China (天津商学院)
- Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (天津美术学院)
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
High Schools
- Yaohua High School (耀华中学)
- Nankai High
School (南开中学)
- No. 1 High School
(第一中学)
- Xinhua High
School (新华中学)
- Shiyan High
School (实验中学)
Transportation
Airplane
Tianjin Airport (ZBTJ) is located on the east of the city.
Train
There are several railway stations in the city. Tianjin Railway Station being the principal one. It was built in 1888, initially, the station was located at "Wang Dao Zhuang (旺道庄)". The
station was later moved to "Lao Long Tou (老龙头)" on the river side of the Haihe River in 1892, so the station renamed "Lao Long Tou Railway Station". The station was rebuilt from scatch in 1988. The rebuilding work began on April 15, 1987 and was finished on October 1, 1988.
Tianjin Xi (Tianjin West) Railway Station and Tianjin Bei (Tianjin North) Railway Station are also major railway stations in
Tianjin.
Tanggu Railway Station is located in the port area of Tanggu.
Taida (TEDA) Railway Station is located in TEDA, to the north of Tanggu.
There are also several other railway stations in the city.
Bus
The Tianjin bus network was created in 1904, and was the first city to have its own city-wide bus system in China.
There are hundreds of bus lines in the city.
Metro
Building work on the Tianjin Metro started on July 4, 1970. It was the second metro to be built in China and commencd service
in 1984. The total length of track is 7.4 kilometers.
The metro service was suspended on October 9, 2001 and is currently being rebuilt. This new metro is called "Tianjin Metro
Line 1". It is scheduled to be finished in the later half of 2005. The track will be extended to 26.188 kilometers and there will
be a total of 22 stations. Previously, there were 8 stations.
There are also several metro lines scheduled to be built. Construction work on Line 2 and Line 3 will begin later this
year(2004).
There is also a light railway line in the city. The line runs between Tianjin downtown and TEDA, in the seaside region. The eastern part of the line began service on March 28, 2004. The western part of the
line is scheduled to be completed in 2006.
See also
External link
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