天津市

Why this place

Tianjin was a treaty port from 1860, and nine foreign concessions left behind whole streets of European-style banks, churches and villas along the Hai River. It is also the port for Beijing, which gave it its own merchant culture — most visibly in its breakfast, which locals take more seriously than almost anywhere else in China.

What to see

• Wudadao (the Five Great Avenues) — hundreds of colonial-era villas in a walkable grid
• The Italian Style Area along the Hai River, and the riverside promenade at night
• Tianjin Eye, the ferris wheel built onto a bridge over the river
• Ancient Culture Street and the Confucian temple, for a Ming–Qing merchant-city layer

What to eat

• Jianbing guozi — the mung-bean crepe with fried dough, eaten standing up before 9am
• Goubuli baozi — pork buns with a broth inside; the classic Tianjin breakfast item
• Mahua — the long twisted fried dough, sold in every size including comically large

How to plan

One full day is enough: Five Great Avenues in the morning, the river and Italian area in the afternoon, food street at night.

Best time

April–May and September–October; winter wind off the plain is harsh

Practical tips

• Tianjin is 30 minutes from Beijing by high-speed rail — an easy day trip from the capital