Category Archives: 天津

Going from my business class railroad seats… …to the sad, anemic (no Diet Coke???) “first class” lounge at the Tianjin airport, I’ve become acutely aware of just how bourgeois my tastes have become.

I grew suspicious when my Tianjin hotel seemed to have fewer restaurants & bars than its guest information guides had suggested.  I stopped of at a floor with a supposed year-round bar and found this derelict room.  Only reverb-drenched big … Continue reading →

Tianjin’s “Ancient Culture Street” is a reconstruction of a Qing-era shopping street (but is largely a tourist trap for Chinese visiting the city.) Many Chinese claim they are not religious, but I’m always struck by how reflexively superstitious almost all … Continue reading →