Writes of Passage

167 Dagubei Road
Heping District, Tianjin, 300040

It is on the site of Gordon Hall, across the street (解放 Jiefang N Road) from Astor Hotel and one block north from Kailuan. The main entrance is face the Jiefang Garden North 解放北园, a tiny green patch with a Chinese gazebo. There is rich history to this location and the hotel offers a short tour at 6 pm.

1976 Tangshan earthquake had damaged the building. They rebuilt and used as municipal government till 2010. Ritz began in 2013

The columns at their 2-level Chinese restaurant are salvaged from the American garrison, treated and preserved. Nice touch.

Abundant of paintings are hung throughout the public area. The stairs in the lobby somehow, remind me of Gone with the Wind, where Gable noticed his girl.

Gordon Hall during the Great Flood of 1939, photo courtesy of the Tim Brig Collection @ China marine. This one is from Xu Streeet @ wiki.

During my 2018 trip to Tianjin, I passed by this school 天津二十中学 and sneaked in a few photos. Not completely surprise to me, the old guy who manned the gate house by the entrance, said no to our request to going in to take a few photos.

No.18 Hejia Lane, Ruyi’an Street,
Hongqiao District, Tianjin

LuzuTang Museum, or the Boxer Museum.

The small courtyard was built in 1433. During the Boxer Uprising (some call it rebellion) in 1900, Cao Futian 曹福田 (the leader of Qian fraction 乾字团首领) set his quarter here. The gov renovated it in 1985 and set it up as a memorial – it’s the only 义和团坛口 relic of Boxers in the country.

The simple exhibits are mostly photos, and some of their claims I’ll have to disagree. The language and the mindset is pre-loving-the-west.

O’Hara’s @ the Astor inTianjin China.

The dark panelling makes the place feel good. It’s later afternoon on a Saturday. We’re the second table in the empty bar. Relaxing and unhurried.

The food and drink are ok but the huge utensils are for dinner. I asked for the proper ones …

Tai’an Dao 泰安道
Tianjin, China

The former Kailuan Mining Administration was housed in this building. I visited it every time I’m in TJ. This year, I see many newly weds or about to wed take their photos there – very crowded. It’s a stone throw away from Astor and Ritz.

It shares Dagubei Road with Ritz-Carlton and Tai’an with Astor. 

Wiki says the Hai River, formerly known as the Peiho or Pei Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. Oddly, neither zh wiki or Baidu mentioned this fact at all. Perhaps PeiHo was only used in English at the time? This would be my guess. Astor Hotel/House seems to be the photo to illustrate.

Long Lasting Morality Road in Tianjin, one of the Five Great Avenues 天津五大道.

• 2019
• 2012
• 2003
• 常德道 & 桂林道 范权 in CulRev

By Cindy Zhang in 2016

⁴¹²⁹⁸

You got a ticket to ride? … asked John Lennon of Beatles fame.

Due to a little reason, I needed to take the train home but I didn’t have my passport with me. So we waited on Window 1. The woman pointed to the window second to last to her right, for no ID card purchase. Window 2 said he doesn’t deal with no Chinese. Window 3 sent me to see his supervisor. Window 4 made a few phone calls then sent me to Window 5 to make the purchase, using my New York driver’s licence.

Phew.

Good to know the security is tight. And good to know that my driver’s licence works.

It takes only 32 minutes to get back to Beijing.

New York-Philly-DC, New York-Boston need high speed train, for pete’s sake.

Hedong District, 11 Longitude Street (@ 8 Latitude St)
河东区十一经路与八纬路交口东北角(十一经路店)

Goubuli means dog ignores, is a popular steamed meat buns from Tianjin. According to the legend, the founder was nicknamed doggie and he’s too busy making the buns to respond to his friends. They soon shorten the saying that Doggie didn’t have time for us to Dog ignores; or Go Believe.

I haven’t had this kind of buns for a long time. While living in Tianjin briefly when I was little, I didn’t get to eat it because most people were dirt poor under the reign of Chairman Mao who died in 1976. I’m pretty surprised to see the tall facade for an one dimensional fare. The hallway by the entrance is lined with boxes, and the staff is in white uniform, looking rather sharp.

In 1992 they opened an outpost in Flushing, New York but didn’t last long. Perhaps without nostalgic, they couldn’t compete on service and varieties. Glad to see them moving forward this time, cashing on the name. They even implement some crowd pleasing bells and whistles, such as coming to your suite, and letting the diner to make the buns. I joked that we would get 20% off for DIY …

The bottom two were made by me and the top one was by the chef in white toque. … Ok, no 20% off but an extra % added because I didn’t make them right -:).