Tianjin (help·info) (Chinese: 天津; Pinyin: Tiānjīn; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is one of the four municipalities of China. As a municipality, Tianjin has provincial-level status and comes directly under the central government. Tianjin's urban area is the third largest in China, after Shanghai and Beijing.
Tianjin's urban area is located along the Hai He River. Its ports, some distance away, are located on Bohai Gulf in the Pacific Ocean. Tianjin Municipality borders Hebei province to the north, south, and west; the municipality of Beijing is to the northwest, and Bohai Gulf to the east.

History
Tianjin is at the northern end of the Grand Canal of China, which connects with the Huang He and Yangtze rivers.
Tianjin Municipality is generally flat, and swampy near the coast, but hilly in the far north, where the Yanshan Mountains pass through the tip of northern Tianjin. The highest point in Tianjin is Jiushanding Peak on the northern border with Hebei, at an altitude of 1078 m.
The Hai He River forms within Tianjin Municipality at the confluence of the Ziya River, Daqing River, Yongding River, North Grand Canal, and South Grand Canal; and enters the Pacific Ocean at Tianjin Municipality as well, in Dagu District. Major reservoirs include the Beidagang Reservoir in the extreme south (in Dagang District) and the Yuqiao Reservoir in the extreme north (in Ji County).
The urban area of Tianjin is found in the south-central part of the Municipality. In addition to the main urban area of Tianjin proper, the coast along the Bohai is lined with a series of port towns, including Tanggu and Hangu.
Tianjin's climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dwa) characterized by hot, humid summers, due to the monsoon, and dry, cold winters, due to the Siberian anticyclone. Average highs in January and July are 36 degrees F (2C) and 87 degrees F (31C) respectively). Spring is windy but dry, and most of the precipitation takes place in July and August. Tianjin also experiences occasional spring sandstorms which blow in from the Gobi Desert and may last for several days.

Geography
Tianjin is divided into 18 county-level divisions, including 15 districts and 3 counties. Six of the districts govern the urban area of Tianjin:
Three of the districts govern towns and harbours along the seacoast:
Four of the districts govern satellite towns and rural areas close to the urban center:
Two of the districts as well as the three counties govern towns and rural areas further away from the urban center:
In addition, the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) is not a formal level of administration, but nevertheless enjoys rights similar to a regular district.
These districts and counties are further subdivided, as of December 31, 2004, into 240 township-level divisions, including 120 towns, 18 townships, 2 ethnic townships and 100 subdistricts.

Heping District (Simplified Chinese: 和平区; Hanyu Pinyin: Hépíng Qū)
Hexi District (河西区 Héxī Qū)
Hebei District (河北区 Héběi Qū)
Nankai District (南开区 Nánkāi Qū)
Hedong District (河东区 Hédōng Qū)
Hongqiao District (红桥区 Hōngqiáo Qū)
Tanggu District (塘沽区 Tánggū Qū)
Hangu District (汉沽区 Hàngū Qū)
Dagang District (大港区 Dàgǎng Qū)
These districts collectively make up the economic development zone of Binhai.
Jinnan District (津南区 Jīnnán Qū)
Dongli District (东丽区 Dōnglì Qū)
Xiqing District (西青区 Xīqīng Qū)
Beichen District (北辰区 Běichén Qū)
Baodi District (宝坻区 Bǎodǐ Qū) — Baodi County before 2001
Wuqing District (武清区 Wǔqīng Qū) — Wuqing County before 2000
Ji County (蓟县 Jì Xiàn)
Jinghai County (静海县 Jìnghǎi Xiàn) [2] (Chinese)
Ninghe County (宁河县 Nínghé Xiàn) Subdivisions
The nominal GDP for Tianjin was 366.4 billion yuan (US$45.8 billion) in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. [3]
In 2004, per capita GDP was 31,600 yuan. The manufacturing sector was the largest (53.2%) and fastest-growing (19.8%) sector of Tianjin's economy. Urban disposable income per capita was 11,467 yuan, a real increase of 11.2% from the previous year. Rural pure income per capita was 6,525 yuan, a real increase of 11.3% from the previous year. [4]
Farmland takes up about 40% of Tianjin Municipality's total area. Wheat, rice, and maize are the most important crops. Fishing is important along the coast. Tianjin is also an important industrial base. Major industries include petrochemical industries, textiles, car manufacturing, mechanical industries, and metalworking.
Tianjin Municipality also has deposits of about 1 billion tonnes of petroleum, with Dagang District containing important oilfields. Salt production is also important, with Changlu Yanqu being one of China's most important salt production areas. Geothermal energy is another resource of Tianjin. Deposits of manganese and boron under Tianjin were the first to be found in China.
EADS Airbus will be opening an assembly plant for its A320 series airliners, to be operational in 2009. AVIC I and AVIC II will be EADS' local partners for the site, to which subassemblies will be sent from plants around the world.

Economy
At the end of 2004, the population of Tianjin Municipality was 10.24 million, of which 9.33 million were holders of Tianjin hukou (permanent residence). Among Tianjin permanent residents, 5.56 million were urban, and 3.76 million were rural. [5]
The majority of Tianjin residents are Han Chinese. Minorities include Hui, Koreans, Manchus, and Mongols.
Excludes members of the People's Liberation Army in active service. Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. (ISBN 7-105-05425-5)

Demographics
Tianjin People's Broadcasting Station is the major radio station in Tianjin. Broadcasting in nine channels, it serves most of North China, part of East and Northeast China, reaching an audience of over 100 million.[6] (Chinese) Tianjin Television, the local television station, broadcasts in nine channels. It also boasts a paid digital channel, featuring home improvement programs.[7] (Chinese) Both the radio and television stations are now branches of the Tianjin Film, Radio and Television Group, established in October of 2002.[8] (Chinese)
Major local newspapers include the Tianjin Daily and Jin Wan Bao(literally, tonight newspaper), which are the flagship papers of Tianjin Daily Newspaper Group and Jinwan Mass Media Group, respectively.

Media
People from urban Tianjin speak Tianjin dialect, which comes under the Mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese. Despite its proximity to Beijing, Tianjin dialect sounds quite different from Beijing dialect, which provides the basis for Putonghua, official spoken language of the People's Republic of China.
Tianjin cuisine places a heavy focus on seafood, due to Tianjin's proximity to the sea. Prominent menus include the Eight Great Bowls (八大碗), a combination of eight mainly meat dishes. It can be further classified into several varieties, including the rough (粗), smooth (S: 细 / T: 細), and high (高). The Four Great Stews (四大扒) refers actually to a very large number of stews, including chicken, duck, seafood, beef, and mutton.
Tianjin also has several famous snack items. Goubuli (狗不理) is a traditional brand of baozi (steamed buns with filling) that is famous throughout China. Guifaxiang (S: 桂发祥 / T: 桂發祥) is a traditional brand of mahua (twisted dough sticks). Erduoyan (耳朵眼) is a traditional brand of fried rice cakes.
Tianjin is a respected home base of Beijing opera, one of the most prestigious forms of Chinese opera.
Ma Sanli (1914 - 2003), an ethnic Hui and longtime resident of Tianjin, is paramountly respected in China for his xiangsheng, a hugely popular form of Chinese entertainment similar to stand-up comedy. Ma Sanli delivered some of his xiangsheng in the Tianjin dialect.
Yangliuqing (Green Willows), a town about 15 km west of Tianjin's urban area and the seat of Tianjin's Xiqing District, is famous for its popular Chinese New Year-themed, traditional-style, colourful wash paintings. Tianjin is also famous for Zhang's clay figurines (S: 泥人张 / T: 泥人張) which are a type of colourful figurine depicting a variety of vivid characters, and Tianjin's Wei's kites (S: 风筝魏 / T: 風箏魏), which can be folded to a fraction of their full sizes, are noted for portability.

Culture
People from Tianjin are stereotyped to be eloquent, humorous, open, and unfettered. There is a term for the stereotype of the always-eloquent and sometimes-humorous Tianjin native: wèizuǐzi (S: 卫嘴子 / T: 衛嘴子), which translates roughly as "the Tianjin mouth". This stereotype is perhaps partially the result of Ma Sanli's reputation (see "Culture" section above).

Stereotypes
Main article: Transportation in Tianjin

Transportation
The Tianjin Metro is currently under heavy expansion from a single line to 9 lines.

Metro
There are several railway stations in the city, Tianjin Railway Station being the principal one. It was built in 1888, initially, the station was located at Wangdaozhuang (S: 旺道庄 / T: 旺道莊). The station was later moved to Laolongtou (S: 老龙头 / T: 老龍頭) on the banks of the Hai He River in 1892, so the station was renamed Laolongtou Railway Station. The station was rebuilt from scatch in 1988. The rebuilding work began on April 15, 1987 and was finished on October 1, 1988. The Tianjin Railway Station is also locally called the 'East Station', due to its geographical position.
Tianjin West Railway Station and Tianjin North Railway Station are also major railway stations in Tianjin. There is also Tanggu Railway Station is located in the important port area of Tanggu District, and TEDA Railway Station located in TEDA, to the north of Tanggu. There are several other railway stations in the city.
Construction on a Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail began on July 4, 2005, and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.
The following rail lines go through Tianjin:

Jingshan Railway, from Beijing to Shanhai Pass
Jinpu Railway, from Tianjin to Pukou District, Nanjing
Jinji Railway, from Tianjin urban area to Ji County, Tianjin
Jinba Railway, from Tianjin to Bazhou, Hebei Rail
Some spots in Tianjin, including roads and bridges, have names from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Three Principles of the People (for example, Minquan Gate on Zhonghuan Road). Names harkening back to the era of the Republic of China on the mainland also appear (e.g. Beiyang Road). Many roads in Tianjin are named after a Chinese province or city. Also, Tianjin is unlike Beijing, in that very few roads run parallel to the major four compass directions.
Tianjin has three ring roads. Unlike Beijing, the Inner and Middle Ring Roads are not closed, traffic-controlled roadways and some often have traffic light intersections. The Outer Ring Road is the closest thing to a highway-level ring road, although traffic is often chaotic and sometimes more than chaotic.
Tianjin's roads often finish in dao (道 avenue), xian (S: 线 / T: 線) line, more used for highways and through routes) and lu (路 road). Jie (街 street) is rare. As Tianjin's roads are rarely in a cardinal compass direction, jing (S: 经 / T: 經) roads and wei (S: 纬 / T: 緯) roads often appear, which attempt to run more directly north-south and east-west, respectively.
The following seven expressways of China run in or through Tianjin:
The following six China National Highways pass through Tianjin:
The expressways are sometimes closed due to dense fog particularly in the Autumn and Spring.



Inner Ring Road (neihuan)
Middle Ring Road (zhonghuan)
Outer Ring Road (waihuan)
Jingjintang Expressway, from Beijing, through Tianjin's urban area, to Tanggu District / TEDA
Jinghu Expressway, from Jinjing Gonglu Bridge to Shanghai (together with Jingjintang Expressway, this is the expressway from Beijing to Shanghai)
Jingshen Expressway, through Baodi District on its way from Beijing to Shenyang
Tangjin Expressway, from Tanggu District, Tianjin, to Tangshan, Hebei -- known in Tianjin as the Jintang Expressway
Baojin Expressway, from Beichen District, Tianjin, to Baoding, Hebei -- known in Tianjin as the Jinbao Expressway
Jinbin Expressway, from Zhangguizhuang Bridge to Hujiayuan Bridge, both within Tianjin
Jinji Expressway, from central Tianjin to Jixian County
China National Highway 102, through Ji County, Tianjin on its way from Beijing to Harbin
China National Highway 103, from Beijing, through Tianjin's urban area, to Tanggu District
China National Highway 104, from Beijing, through Tianjin Municipality, to Fuzhou
China National Highway 105, from Beijing, through Tianjin Municipality, to Macau
China National Highway 112, circular highway around Beijing, passes through Tianjin Municipality
China National Highway 205, from Shanhaiguan, Hebei, through Tianjin Municipality, to Guangzhou Roads and expressways
Tianjin Binhai International Airport (ZBTJ) is located to the east of the urban area, in Dongli District.

Air
The Tianjin tram network was awarded to a Belgian company in 1904 and opened in 1906. It was the first city-wide tramway system in China. There were 402 bus lines in the city as of 2004. [9](Chinese)
Construction work on the Tianjin Metro started on July 4, 1970. It was the second metro to be built in China and commenced service in 1984. The total length of track is 7.4 kilometers. The metro service was suspended on October 9, 2001 and is currently being rebuilt. This new metro will be called "Tianjin Metro Line 1". It is scheduled to be finished in the later half of 2005. The track will be extended to 26.188 kilometers and there will be a total of 22 stations. Previously, there were 8 stations. Several new metro lines are planned. Construction work on Line 2 and Line 3 will begin in late 2004.
There is also a light railway line in the city, the Binhai Mass Transit line. The line runs between downtown Tianjin and TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area) in the seaside region. The eastern part of the line began service on March 28, 2004. The western part of the line is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

Public transit
Sights within the Tianjin urban area include:
Sights outside the Tianjin urban area, but within the municipality, include:

Luzutang (Boxer Rebellion Museum)
Guwan Shichang 古玩市场 (Antique Market)
Guwenhua Jie 古文化街 (Ancient Culture Street)
Wen Miao 文庙 (Confucious Temple)
Shuishang Gongyuan 水上公园 (Water Park)
Shijia Dayuan (Shi Family Residence)
Temple of Great Compassion 大悲禅院 (Dabeiyuan)
Tianhougong
Wanghailou Church, site of the 1870 Tianjin Church Incident 望海楼教堂
Xikai Church 西凯天主教堂
Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall 周恩来纪念馆
Fort Dagukou, Qing Dynasty-era cannon battlement
Huangyaguan Great Wall
Mount Panshan Tourism
Sports teams based in Tianjin include:
Chinese Football Association Super League
China Baseball Association

Tianjin Teda FC
Tianjin Lions Sports teams

Colleges and universities

Nankai High School (南开中学) City's Top 5
No. 1 High School (第一中学) City's Top 5
Shiyan High School (实验中学) City's Top 5
Xinhua High School (新华中学) City's Top 5
Yaohua High School (耀华中学) City's Top 5
Tianjin No. 2 High School (天津市第二中学)
Tianjin No. 14 High School (天津市第十四中学)
Tianjin No. 42 High School (天津市第四十二中学)
Tianjin No. 43 High School (天津市第四十三中学) High schools

天津 ("Celestial ford") is also the name of an asterism in the Chinese constellation of Girl Mansion (女宿)
Gao Lingwen, founder of Tianjin's first public school
List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population
American, British, French, Italian, Belgian, Russian and Japanese Concessions in Tianjin Sister Cities
At 39°07.5′N, 117°11.7′E, the previous total solar eclipse was solar eclipse of 1277-Oct-28 occurred on October 28, 1277, the next total solar eclipse will be solar eclipse of 2187-Jul-06 occurred on July 6, 2187.
Total solar eclipses from 1001 to 3000 are:
Annular solar eclipses from 1001 to 3000 are:
Wikisource has an article about solar eclipses as seen from Tianjin from 2001 to 3000.

1277-Oct-28 13:21 CST
2187-Jul-06 17:13 CST
2415-Apr-10 10:49 CST
2636-May-27 05:09 CST
2762-Aug-12 09:43 CST
1189-Feb-17 11:37 CST
1292-Jan-21 13:30 CST
1665-Jan-16 16:42 CST
1802-Aug-28 15:48 CST
2118-Mar-22 15:33 CST
2439-Jun-12 07:52 CST
2686-Sep-10 07:12 CST
2739-Apr-30 08:41 CST
2894-Dec-18 14:38 CST