An early breakfast this morning in order to be on the bus by 7.30 for our tour, ‘Highlights of Tianjing’. It took almost an hour and a half to get to the city and there wasn’t a great deal to see along the way. No other ships were in at the cruise terminal and therefore hardly any people around except for security. Tianjin's urban population is the 4th largest in China, coming in behind Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. As of 2015, the municipality has a population of over 15 million. According to data from 2009, almost 10 million people in Tianjin were permanent residents. So, as you can see, another small city !!!!! The traffic as we got nearer did get heavy but no more so than any city in Australia and once again it was orderly. They have a system where cars with certain licence plates can only go on the road on particular days, maybe not a bad idea for Melbourne. Our first stop was at the Temple of Confucius - this Temple and surrounds is very much in need of some refurbishment - some of us feel there might even be borers/white ants in the posts as they seem to be splitting. Anyway, just my opinion. All the other temples along the way have been so well preserved. We moved on from there to the Old Town, a maze of streets selling everything! Particularly food, jewellery, clothing, odds & ends. Most of the stuff we can pick up at Vic Market or in China Town at home really. But it is always fun to see, particularly some of the food. Back on the ship in time for lunch at 1 pm and a lazy afternoon. Had a long chat with Danny Elliott, , the artist from last night, a very nice guy from Sydney. He performs for several cruise lines, will be with us until Korea. Had an enjoyable dinner with Sue & Rod from Bendigo. Sue & I went on the show via the casino & picked up a few $$$ on the way. Had a Russian pianist tonight, she was very good. Clocks turned for daylight saving tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment