Tuesday 6 March 2012: Ancient Culture, European Culture

Charlie (far right) explains Ancient Culture Street's mural to Ned, John, Jenny and George.

Today we were treated to two completely different sides of Tianjin. In the morning, our (new) bus driver took us to the Ancient Culture Street, a precinct that aims to preserve and promote traditional Chinese culture. Beautiful temples, sculptures and murals compete for your attention with all the market stalls and craft shops. We lost a few along the way to the temptations of the jewellery stores. They soon returned, though, when they heard that we were headed for the famous Snack Food Market. Dozens of stalls like the one below enticed us to sample both savoury and sweet snacks. We had to run the gauntlet of the public toilets first, a true eye-watering, sick-making experience!

Andy and other assorted nuts.The afternoon presented us with a complete surprise. Tianjin was an important port town in the 19th century, and as a result there had been a thriving European community there. The Italian precinct is a beautiful part of Tianjin, with its outstanding Italianate architecture (including a gorgeous cathedral that is presently buried underneath hoardings, either condemned or awaiting reconstruction).

The Italian precinct contains a fine array of European-style restaurants: not only Italian, but also French and German. While most of our group piled into a lovely Italian-style restaurant, Lloyd and I discovered a place that served German-style food with some eastern European flourishes. The beer was great and the goulash and borscht weren't bad either!

Our biggest surprise was stepping into brilliant sushine after lunch, and witnessing half a dozen weddings taking place out in the open. Not to mention the Chinese school group on excursion, who insisted on having their photos taken with us. We felt like rock stars.

Statue of Dr Sun Yat-Sen, Tianjin, Ancient Cultural Precinct.

We continued our exploration of Tianjin on foot for the rest of the afternoon. Very impressed with this 'small' Chinese city. On the way home we stumbled across a large crowd in a park. We strained to see what all the fuss was about, and soon the crowd revealed a man with half a dozen trained monkeys. Whatever our thoughts about the ethics of such performances, these tiny monkeys had the crowd - and particularly the children - in stitches. Especially when they appeared to disobey their trainer's commands and instead ran behind the trainer and kicked his backside.

Our final duty today was to attend the welcome dinner that Phillipa had organised for the group. Chinese banquets are a communal experience, and this experience was enhanced by the good company and a healthy supply of beer and wine.

Monday, 5 March 2012: Hitting the Crossbar

Gentle sleet fell as our group piled into the bus on Monday afternoon, all excited about seeing the Mariners train at Teda International Stadium. We zoomed through Tianjin streets and headed onto the freeway, surprised that this town was so sprawling. We hadn't realised that the Teda International Stadium and Tianjin Teda FC are not based in Tianjin but in this new development area, Binhai. It's over an hour from our hotel.

I dozed off to sleep but was woken with a bang. What was that crashing noise? Why has our bus ground to a halt? And what's that huge metal thing on the freeway behind us?

Turns out we have crashed into a height restriction barrier. This part of the freeway is restricted to vehicles that are lower that 2.5 metres in height. Fortunately the barrier was erected three metres above the road, otherwise more than just the airconditioning unit on the rooftop of the bus would have been shredded. We rushed outside into the sleet and realised that the barrier itself has totally toppled over, blocking the freeway behind us. Amazingly, there was no traffic behind our bus as the barrier crashed to the ground. Had there been cars in its way, they would have surely been crushed. It is also fortunate that we had just passed a freeway exit. Thus all the Binhai-bound traffic that we have just blocked has an alternative route.

It didn't take long for Charlie to become a legend to this tour group. On re-entering the bus after having surveyed the damaged, Charlie coolly grabbed the microphone and announced, 'Well, Mr Lee has just been demoted to third-best driver'. Mr Lee stepped out of the bus, flagged down a local public bus, and flung a wad of cash into its driver's palms. This, sadly, was the last that we were to see of Mr Lee. As he waved Charlie and us off and waited for the insurance company to arrive, we squashed into the public bus, standing room only. What must the locals have thought of this bedraggled, bright-yellow-clad group of foreigners? For the first time, and not the last on this trip, I heard the word laowai muttered under someone's breath. The bus reached its regular destination and dispersed its local passengers, leaving just our crew. Having arrived in Binhai way too late for the Mariners' training session, Charlie sweet-talked the driver into taking us to the Teda International Hotel where the lads were staying.

Tour organiser Phillipa Sardelic called upon her emergency supply of cigarettes. This trip via public bus was not part of the original itinerary, and Phillipa felt she had let us down. Not at all! We all took this little hitch in very good spirits. What else could we do: let it get us down? No way. This was our little trip to China, and no height-restriction barrier was going to get in our way! We thus moved onto the next item on our itinerary: the meet-and-greet with Mariners players and staff.

The Tianjin International Hotel was a fine temporary home for the Mariners. A beautiful 5-star hotel with a real old-world feel. I certainly felt a little out-of-place here, but the Mariners made us feel very welcome. The players and officials went out of their way to chat with all the fans, and we really appreciated their efforts. They, in turn, found it hard to believe that the club has supporters who would travel halfway around the world to see the Mariners play. Get used to it, boys! We won't be the last.

A new bus and a new driver were ready to escort us back to Tianjin proper. Despite the best efforts of the local taxi drivers, zooming maniacally in and out of traffic, we managed to make it home safely.

Monday, 5 March 2012: Tianjin on Ice

We touch down at Beijing Airport at sunrise, and after a coffee we are on our way. We meet Charlie of Nexus Travel, who is to be our tour guide for the following week. On the bus, Charlie introduces us to Mr Lee, 'the second best bus driver in our company'.

We stop at a truckstop for comfort breaks and refreshments. The icy cold air hits us and we all start to add extra layers of clothing. The Central Coast's recent balmy weather certainly didn't prepare us for this! We feast on delicious steamed dumplings at the outdoor stall and resume our trip to Tianjin.
After settling in at our very impressive hotel - the Holiday Inn Tianjin Riverside - Lloyd and I head out to explore the freezing city. Our first impressions weren't great: seems we headed into suburbia rather than going into the best part of town. Later, on the right track, we discovered what a vibrant city we were in. We were transfixed by a six-storey building with a bright sign - in English - advertising the Delicious Fashion Restaurant. Sounds good, we thought. Lloyd and I then proceeded to wander around six floors of shops with delicious fashion on display, but not a restaurant in sight. Luckily we hooked up with Alan and Sue, and found a great stall in the street market that sold the most brilliant egg pancakes.
Then it was back to the Riverside to freshen up for the next adventure ...