Enriching skyline in Tianjin

A birdview of the city center.

Introduction

A few years ago I met another expat around the Yingkou Dao area, and he was an older gentleman who at that time had already spent seven or eight years living in Tianjin. Making small conversation I asked him what had changed since he first arrived and his answer was, "This." This? He extended out his arm at a 45 degree angle and pointed his finger towards the tall building standing above the metropolitan plaza, then to the next tall buildings one right the after the other almost making a half circle and said, "This. None of this was here when I first came to Tianjin."

It's no secret China is changing at an incredible pace. Yet truly understanding this development and putting it into perspective is another matter. For the foreigners living here, this isn't so easy. Part of the reason is because of the typical expat's limited time spent living in Tianjin. Many simply come and go, and in the short time period don't have a real basis for before and after comparison. For those of you here now though, one way to appreciate our city as it exists today is to understand what it was like before you came.

New to Tianjin

When I was living back in Los Angeles I told a Chinese friend of mine that I would go to Tianjin and study Chinese. Being from Guangzhou and having never been to Tianjin herself, she wasn't able to provide much insight or advice, but noticeably didn't have anything good to say either. Actually she said Tianjin was like a bomb had exploded (ironic yes, but not related to the event in Tanggu) because the city was just a jumbled mess scattered about and thrown together. This also might be a reference to the massive demolitions that have happened around the city as well. At that time I only knew Tianjin served as the major port in Northern China, but according to other Chinese people, Tianjin was a lackluster city. I chose not to believe it.

Stories Past to Present

My stay in China has now reached almost four and a half years, and although during this time I have witnessed noticeable change, it pales in comparison to what some of the long term expats have seen and experienced. One of my acquaintances has been in Tianjin for over 14 years now and when he first arrived, an expat would have to go to Beijing if they wanted a Snickers candy bar. Fast forward a few years, and expats were privileged to have available a small variety of international food stuffs at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Today, foreigners have so many options when it comes to buying Western groceries in Tianjin. Aside from D-Mart, Metro or BLT, many Western items can be easily found in typical Chinese grocery stores as well.

Even though fourteen years ago it was tough to find a Snickers, McDonald's had already been in Tianjin for some time. In the Summer of 1994 McDonald's opened its first Tianjin location with 300 seats. Yet, despite having the golden arches, Tianjin still didn't have a lot to offer in terms of real hangout spots with a more Western type atmosphere for the residing foreigners. For the few backpackers and students in Tianjin during the 90's there was Alibaba, which originally was on Nankai University's campus before the building was torn down and relocated to its current location. As one expat had put it, "Despite it's anonymity, Alibaba's is not just the nucleus, but almost the entirety of Tianjin's expat community." Tucked away in a tough to find location, in an old style building of an old style neighborhood, it's funny but not difficult to imagine Alibaba being the default Western hangout joint in town. Remember, this wasn't even ten years ago.

In the early Summer of 2010, the ground shook in Tianjin when Helen's opened its doors to the large excitement of both the local and expat communities. With menus full of Western food and a great environment for drinking and socializing, Helen’s quickly took the pole position and became the preferred place to go. Meanwhile, in Alibaba one could hear a pin drop. The expats enjoyed the new open atmosphere, the music selection, fun vibe, friendly service and budget friendly prices. As for the food in Helens, most people thought it was good enough but not great. However, with no superior alternatives available, most foreigners in Tianjin were just thankful to have something. With Jack Johnson music playing in the background, Helen's in all of it's mediocrity became Tianjin's shining light.

Texas BBQ in Aocheng had just opened about five years ago, and has since closed its doors more than one year ago. Hank's Sports Bar was said to be a popular place, but I never saw another person there the few times I visited. Even Helen's now is just a shell of what it once was with its menu having been reduced down to just snacks and various locations now closed down. In the last five years, Tianjin has seen multiple foreigner hangout places come and go and that might be a good thing. While some people might appreciate the nostalgia of this recent past, today is something different and the number of venues around Tianjin has not only grown in number, but also grown in quality. Go back much more than three years ago, and many of the places foreigners congregate now were not even in Tianjin yet.

Qinghe Avenue (the street where TJ Tex Mex is located across from Joy City in 2004.

Getting Around

Ten years ago, and the transportation was different too. Subway lines three and two were not even in service yet. The taxis were not the Toyota's of today but were a model of Volkswagon even smaller than the Rabbit. One expat who was here back then recounted, "They were so small, and all of them had those metal bars between the front and back seats, but they went all the way down to the floor. It was hard to fit yourself in the car let alone your feet. If there were two of you taking the taxi it became even worse because all the taxis had an ashtray hanging from those bars over the passenger area. When you got in and went to scoot over, you would always bang your knees on the ashtray and get your pants dirty."

Today the subway lines are great and continue to grow in size and usability. Taxis generally are pretty clean and comfortable and now apps like Uber and Didi make transportation even easier. The shared bike service improves mobility, and it's not even one year old yet. Compared with just ten years ago, transportation in Tianjin has improved dramatically. This isn't to say Tianjin's traffic has improved or gotten worse, but the changes in both five and ten year increments have been considerable.

Certainly for any foreigner just arriving to Tianjin, it's difficult to make sense of the driving practices and generally understand the chaos of local traffic. To this day there are certain things I see that drive me crazy and one of them was just in front of Nankai University on Weijin Lu. There is a foot bridge for pedestrians to cross above Weijin Lu right by Nankai University's East gate, but for some reason people would cross through traffic on the street all the time. The combination of being dangerous for the jay walkers and disruptive for the drivers made the exchange students shake their heads in collective disbelief as they watched cars weave around people casually standing between lanes in the middle of quick moving traffic. Within the last year, many streets have had tall white fence barriers placed in the middle thus preventing people from crossing. The days of jay walkers screwing up the flow of traffic is also now something that might be a thing of the past.

There are always constructions going on in Tianjin.

Physical Changes

Ever been to Aocheng? Less than fifteen years ago the entire area south of the water park was completely undeveloped and Aocheng was nothing more than a set of rural fishing ponds. Around ten years ago the road in front of the zoo was just made of dirt and houses weren't being sold because people didn't have a good way to get in and out. Once it was paved over, all the properties were sold in an instant. The development in Tianjin is nothing short of amazing, and isn't just limited to expanding outward into the suburbs. Already existing areas within the city have seen remarkable amounts of redevelopment as well.

The Southeast corner of Balitai is filled with newly constructed tall buildings. In recent months, shops have started to open and people are moving in now too. Only a few months ago the entire area was dark at night and now lights from about half of the windows illuminate the area. Its neighboring development is still under construction but moving quickly. This whole huge section of Tianjin only a few years ago was the campus of Tianjin Normal University, which has since been relocated further outside of the city. With Nankai University's new campus in Jinnan in full swing, it's only a matter of time before that becomes a new development as well.

This phenomenon of large-scale reconstruction has been a reoccurring theme in Tianjin for some time now. Certainly some students living in Jinnan or the outskirts of the city are not happy about the relocation of campuses to boring suburbs, but the rationale for such city planning is not difficult to understand and is generally accepted. Yet, the transformation undergone in Tianjin is much more dramatic than these small examples, and huge demolitions throughout different parts of the city have all but erased many remnants of the past.

Just North of Nankai District's Joy City Mall is an area with Tianjin's Drum Tower. Everything inside of what used to be the old city walls there is new. A picture from Google Earth in 2000 shows what this large block of the city used to look like in the year 2000. In 2004 almost everything was completely gone. By 2009 the new construction of tall residential buildings had been completed. With the exception of a couple important temples, everything was completely torn down and rebuilt to its current modern status.

Ancient Culture Street, The area's around Tianjin's train station, across the river and countless other places around the city have undergone similar transformation. Out with the old and in with the new. For the different districts around Tianjin, large money was made for the local governments by bulldozing the old buildings and selling the clean plot of land to developers. Locals had mixed feelings about this process of growth. Yet, people living in the traditional poor quality housing were generally excited to be given compensation for their old homes and use the money to invest in something more modern and comfortable located outside of the city center in the suburbs. Places like Meijiang sprung up and became wealthy neighborhoods.

One Chinese citizen who moved abroad some time ago has her own thoughts when seeing the pictures of Tianjin's redevelopment.

Looking at those photos brings me back to the 1980s when I was riding my bicycle to visit my grandma. It took me 30 minutes or so to cross the old city via its main road. I can still remember the old hutongs, small shops, and it's people. One interesting thing I want to share with you is the so called "main road" was not wide enough for cars! But it was a way of life for its people. When I close my eyes, I can still remember the sounds of Peking opera and the smell of Jasmine teas. I have to say the past 30 years probably saw the biggest change in China history. Every time I came back to visit my hometown I saw people moving into new apartments, more cars on the road, and people getting better education and health care. But all these really come with huge price tags, the images tell everything. Luckily for me, my childhood memories will stay with me forever.

A Google map image of Gulou area in 2004.(L)/The same area in 2009 was already covered with new developments.(R)

The Reason for Change

All of this expansion and reconstruction certainly tells a tale about the changes being made around the city, and there is still so much more to it. What drives such dramatic changes to be made? Much of the reason is due to Tianjin being one of four direct controlled municipalities under China’s central government. With its strategic location between Beijing and the sea, it’s part of China’s efforts to change the population demographics of China and move people from rural areas into big cities and join the labor force. In the big picture, China aims to gradually shift its economy away from being externally driven (manufacturing and export) to being one that is more service oriented and internally driven as well. The shifting population location has been a huge factor in China’s infrastructure development.

By the Numbers

Tianjin's population has increased by over five million people in the last ten years, from around 10 million in 2005 to almost 16 million today. As a basis for understanding the significance of five million people, that is about the general population of cities like Sydney, San Francisco, or Munich. GDP in Tianjin has tripled since 2005 and in 2014, Tianjin ranked ahead of both Beijing and Shanghai for highest per capita income for the first time. In 2016, Tianjin's GDP was 1,788,000,000,000 RMB, and that is about 263 billion US dollars. The per capita income in Tianjin has gone from earnings of around 40 thousand RMB annually in 2005 to over 115 thousand RMB in 2016. During the course of the last ten years Tianjin has seen GDP growth rates in the double digits, and in 2009 for example the GDP marked a 16.5% increase over the figure from 2008. Today, partly due to the various projects around the city, Tianjin is still experiencing faster growth than the rest of China. By any measurement, Tianjin's population and economic numbers are nothing short of incredible.

The Price to Pay

All this economic growth in Tianjin hasn't come without its cost, and I'm not talking about losing historic remnants of the past. Today a nice 100 square meter 2-bedroom apartment within the city costs about four million RMB, or about 587,000 US dollars. The real estate market has gone crazy in Tianjin and year over year seems to defy the odds just like other aspects of the local economy. Fortunately this hasn't translated to the cost of rent. While the cost to rent a flat has risen over the years, it certainly isn't unaffordable and still is much less expensive than Beijing or Shanghai. For 3,500 RMB per month, it's not difficult to find very nice quality one and two bedroom apartments, whereas this rate in Beijing can only afford a peasant's quarters.

The little things change too. La Mian used to routinely sell for five kuai and less, but now is 8 kuai in many places. A Jianbing Guozi breakfast just a few years ago was five kuai if you had it made with two eggs, now many places that cost has gone up to seven. Haircut places around town routinely charge around 20-30 kuai, and upscale establishments even more, not long ago it used to average around ten. The bus fares and subway still remain reasonable, and at a base rate starting at only 9 RMB taking a taxi still has a fair cost.

Expats in Tianjin have found more venues to hang out.

A Beautiful Skyline

It's almost like the city grew tall over night. Only four years ago there was an empty plot of land adjacent to the water park. Today it houses six high rise buildings and when it opens will be a mixed use property for shopping, residential, office spaces, and a hotel. Four years ago and the Modern City Building and Four Seasons Hotel next to Binjiang Dao had not even risen from the ground and today they are in full swing. The list goes on, and the most amazing thing is that virtually all the skyline was created in the last ten years. The tall buildings stand together in multiple clusters and are spread throughout Tianjin, with no primary downtown commercial location it is much different than the typical centralized skylines of other cities. Because to a degree each district independently handles their own "city planning" the high rise buildings seemingly pop up wherever they please.

The transformation of this city hasn't gone unnoticed by photographers, and large groups of locals have made it their hobby to congregate with one another and practice cityscape photography. Time-lapse videos, sunrise and sunset photos, shots taken from all angles and locations around the city are shared in local photographer Wechat groups with maxed out group capacities. A recent photography show at the Ritz Carlton Hotel displayed Tianjin cityscape shots, eloquently showing how beautiful the city has become.

Vacancy

There are some very characteristic side effects that have come with the rapid development in Tianjin, and the most prominent could be Tianjin's vacancy rate. Local’s view of residential real estate is not just about buying and owning a property to have a home to live in. For many Chinese, buying a property is seen as an ideal investment and in many cases the owner doesn't live there, nor does the owner rent out the apartment either. Buildings with 100% ownership rates can have only 50 precent occupancy. Throughout Tianjin many of the apartments in newer buildings remain empty.

Commercial real estate has a followed a similar pattern as well. With all the tall business buildings sprouting up, commercial offices have flooded the market. However, unlike the residential property, much of the commercial real estate is an unfunded liability. There is a much larger capacity than there is a demand, and some developers are slowing their plans and construction to wait for the foot to grow into the shoe. For businesses that need office space, Tianjin is a renters or buyers market.

Hotel occupancy rates in Tianjin are also much lower than other cities. For travelers, a night in a Tianjin five star hotel remains much less expensive than other cities as a result.

Final Reflection

China has boldly slammed its accomplishment of miraculous growth into the pages of world history. From the beginning of time, mankind hasn't experienced such a grand increase of infrastructure as can be seen within China over the last 20 years. Tianjin is a city that acts as the perfect lens to look upon China's leap into the modern age. Just like San Francisco after the gold rush, Havana pre-revolution, or London during the industrial revolution, Tianjin is a remarkable city of its place and time. The pieces of this puzzle have been taken out, reshaped, moved and are all coming back together to make for an amazing picture. Today, Tianjin is great and tomorrow it will be even better. Fully appreciating Tianjin for what it is now, comes very easily with the culmination of beautiful architecture, vast dining options, ease of transport, and all the points that measure a cities livability. Take a step back, observe and reflect upon the transformation that can barely be called "the past" and the perspective becomes even more awe inspiring. As the days pass by, many people both foreign and local are certainly aware of what is happening in and around Tianjin, but they don't all understand the monumental significance of what is happening here. Tianjin and China are making history. For those of us foreigners here in Tianjin now, being a part of and witnessing all of this is an invaluable gift. One day in the future we will be able to look back on this time and say, "I was there. I saw and experienced all of that when it was happening."