Tianjin & Beijing, China – October 4-5, 2010
Most of the highlights of Beijing are in the write-up on Beijing itself, which covers the two days we had in Beijing on our Globus tour. This blog simply deals with the port of Tianjin where I said farewell to the Diamond Princess and a one-night stay in Beijing from where I started my land journey through Asia. Part of what follows was written at that time. The rest was written much later.
Written while on the bus from the port in Tianjin to Beijing:
We have just reached our rest stop and we are almost ready to continue our journey. We now have fewer people on the bus because those who are going to the Great Wall or the Imperial City are now on the right bus. Dah??? Their luggage may not be with them tomorrow but at least they will make their tour today. My luggage will supposedly show up again at the airport tomorrow morning. For today and early tomorrow I am living out of my carry-on luggage, which in my case is my backpack.
The pier in Tianjin is huge. It is a whole new development and it’s amazing how much work is taking place. The cruise ship centre or dock is huge and very beautiful as it is shaped like a giant wave or a stylized cruise ship. As we approached it, it seemed to make even Canada Place seem small but I imagine that was a matter of perspective. Canada Place has Vancouver’s high rises all around it while this building is totally out on its own with nothing anywhere near it except for flat land. However, as we drove away I noted that it virtually hid all of the Diamond Princess so that definitely makes it big in height. Another ship, the Regency, was also in port and parked in front of the Diamond Princess. Just the ship’s bow was jutting out past the cruise centre so I guess that proves it’s a big centre in length as well.
The area under development around the port is so large that after an hour of driving I’m still not sure we are out of it. Entire cities seem to be popping up and an entirely new freeway system is being built. It’s amazing to see. I guess the area in the end will look after all the shipping needs – cruise ships, ferries, freight liners, etc – and also be a free port for storage of goods from other countries as they prepare to travel along the coast. There are four regions in the development and each has its own specific purpose. I can’t remember what all of them were for sure but I think one was for containers, one was industrial and one was agricultural. I think we must be driving through the agricultural part right now. There are lots of fields of corn (that one I recognize) and lots of other green plants as well. A lot of the work is being done by hand and small cart but there are some tractors and other pieces of equipment in use as well. It’s hard to get good pictures as the speed limit is 120 and the bus driver isn’t wasting any time. There are also a lot of trees right along the side of the road so you only get quick, blurred glimpses of what is behind. Luckily even the trees are new so there is a space to see between them. In a few more years that won’t be the case.
The area in places almost looks like it’s been reclaimed from the land but no one has mentioned that so I’m assuming it’s not so in most cases. They do have a lot of industry involving sea salt so perhaps that’s why it looks so wet in places. There are small and large culverts throughout the land so water is obviously coming into the area from somewhere. And I’m assuming it’s not sea water for the plants since that wouldn’t work very well.
They’ve just offered us an afternoon trip to the Olympic Village and then a Peking duck dinner. I may take them up on that offer even though I have to do a lot of internet work. Going to some of the main sites like the Imperial City and Tiananmen Square were options on the cruise but this is the national holiday and apparently traffic is closed off to those sights and you have to walk at least two hours to get to either of them. As well, they are really busy. I think she said there were half a million visitors in the square yesterday so it’s very crowded. I will be seeing those sights on the 15th and 16th when I’m back in Beijing on my Globus tour so I think I’ll wait until then. The 7-day national holiday will be over by then so it shouldn’t be quite so busy (I hope!)
We just went through a toll booth and crossed the city limits of Beijing, and immediately we are in a traffic jam. We have four lanes going our way but we are almost totally stopped. It will be interesting to see if this is what it’s like for the next half of the journey. I’m sure she said it was only 120 km to Beijing and that the speed limit was 120 km per hour but the trip takes three hours so there must be some regular delays along the way.
Now I’m writing on January 18th and going by my really poor memory and a few fuzzy pictures taken from the speeding bus. I remember it was a long bus ride. I don’t remember going on any tours or to dinner with the group but I do remember that I had to leave for the airport the next day about four hours before my flight and that seemed a bit ridiculous. Oh well, what can you do?
My pictures certainly show the size of the development around the port and all the flat undeveloped land around it. There were lots of fields and sectioned areas that were white with what I assumed was salt. Then suddenly there were lots of agricultural fields and many different crops. And in one area there were lots of power lines. And finally in the distance, lots of high rises in different locations as new cities were coming into existence.
Pictures as we entered Beijing showed a lot more construction with cranes everywhere. The highway system is great and there are green parks in all unused areas around the highways. Parts of the city looked modern but other parts looked quite old and dingy. Rivers were neatly banked with walkways on both sides and green space along the banks. The green space along the highways and flowerbeds certainly brightened up the drive.
Once in my hotel room I had a view of some of the high rises and they seemed so dense they were almost touching. But there were green spaces along the streets and there was a playing field just across the street so it didn’t seem so bad. And now that I see the picture I took from my hotel room window, I think I remember where I ate that night. I think I went out looking for a small local restaurant and ended up at a MacDonald’s that was right across the street and around the corner. It wasn’t my first choice but after wandering around for a while I decided it was probably my best choice.
The trip from the port to the hotel was very long. The driver was certainly moving quickly for the first part of the journey on the new highway where there was very little traffic. However, once we got into Beijing the traffic was bad and we really had to slow down. And I guess saying that Beijing is 120 km from the port really doesn’t tell you how far you really have to travel, especially when the city you are travelling into has a population of over 22 million and is quite spread out. No matter where we went in Beijing the traffic was always heavy and it seemed to take forever to get there, which I guess can be expected in such a large city. All of China seems crowded. The population density in China is over 1300 people per square kilometer. Canada’s population density is about 3 people per square kilometer so perhaps I just wasn’t used to so many people all in one location.
A few words about the Diamond Princess
So this was the end of my cruise, which came in two parts with the first being the Alaskan cruise and the second being the crossing of the Pacific and stops in Russia, Japan, South Korea and China, and ending in Beijing. What can I say about the cruise? Well first of all, it was not at all boring on the seven days at sea. I seemed to be busy every day as there were always things to do and enjoy. And no, it didn’t all involve eating. I enjoyed the afternoon trivia contests. I did a lot of reading. They had speakers talking about the ports we would be visiting and there were classes to attend. I went to the ones on Photoshop but don’t expect to see any great pictures any time soon. And of course there were great shows and lots of entertainment every evening. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the crossing but I certainly did and I would consider doing it again any time.
The Diamond Princess is a beautiful ship. It’s definitely big and I’m not sure I even saw all of the public areas. The ship is 288 metres long, 41 metres wide and 62 metres high (above keel - if that means anything to anyone). Basically it was like a 15 storey building but a lot longer than your normal high rise. It has a top speed of 22.1 knots and I think we reached that the night we were trying to outrun typhoon Malacas coming up from the south so we could get behind an island before the wind and waves got too rough. We were really moving that night. In total from Whittier to Tianjin (Beijing) we covered over 5,000 nautical miles, which equals about 9,000 kilometers. Over 3,000 nautical miles (5,000 kilometers) were in the crossing from Whittier, Alaska to Muroran, Japan, our first stop in Asia. Counting the day of departure from Whittier and the day of arrival in Tianjin, the cruise was 16 days in length with 5 ports of call in addition to Whittier and Tianjin, and a total of 9 days at sea. The 7 day Alaskan cruise was in addition to this. I would highly recommend the crossing and an Alaskan cruise to anyone.
Most of the highlights of Beijing are in the write-up on Beijing itself, which covers the two days we had in Beijing on our Globus tour. This blog simply deals with the port of Tianjin where I said farewell to the Diamond Princess and a one-night stay in Beijing from where I started my land journey through Asia. Part of what follows was written at that time. The rest was written much later.
Written while on the bus from the port in Tianjin to Beijing:
We have just reached our rest stop and we are almost ready to continue our journey. We now have fewer people on the bus because those who are going to the Great Wall or the Imperial City are now on the right bus. Dah??? Their luggage may not be with them tomorrow but at least they will make their tour today. My luggage will supposedly show up again at the airport tomorrow morning. For today and early tomorrow I am living out of my carry-on luggage, which in my case is my backpack.
The pier in Tianjin is huge. It is a whole new development and it’s amazing how much work is taking place. The cruise ship centre or dock is huge and very beautiful as it is shaped like a giant wave or a stylized cruise ship. As we approached it, it seemed to make even Canada Place seem small but I imagine that was a matter of perspective. Canada Place has Vancouver’s high rises all around it while this building is totally out on its own with nothing anywhere near it except for flat land. However, as we drove away I noted that it virtually hid all of the Diamond Princess so that definitely makes it big in height. Another ship, the Regency, was also in port and parked in front of the Diamond Princess. Just the ship’s bow was jutting out past the cruise centre so I guess that proves it’s a big centre in length as well.
The area under development around the port is so large that after an hour of driving I’m still not sure we are out of it. Entire cities seem to be popping up and an entirely new freeway system is being built. It’s amazing to see. I guess the area in the end will look after all the shipping needs – cruise ships, ferries, freight liners, etc – and also be a free port for storage of goods from other countries as they prepare to travel along the coast. There are four regions in the development and each has its own specific purpose. I can’t remember what all of them were for sure but I think one was for containers, one was industrial and one was agricultural. I think we must be driving through the agricultural part right now. There are lots of fields of corn (that one I recognize) and lots of other green plants as well. A lot of the work is being done by hand and small cart but there are some tractors and other pieces of equipment in use as well. It’s hard to get good pictures as the speed limit is 120 and the bus driver isn’t wasting any time. There are also a lot of trees right along the side of the road so you only get quick, blurred glimpses of what is behind. Luckily even the trees are new so there is a space to see between them. In a few more years that won’t be the case.
The area in places almost looks like it’s been reclaimed from the land but no one has mentioned that so I’m assuming it’s not so in most cases. They do have a lot of industry involving sea salt so perhaps that’s why it looks so wet in places. There are small and large culverts throughout the land so water is obviously coming into the area from somewhere. And I’m assuming it’s not sea water for the plants since that wouldn’t work very well.
They’ve just offered us an afternoon trip to the Olympic Village and then a Peking duck dinner. I may take them up on that offer even though I have to do a lot of internet work. Going to some of the main sites like the Imperial City and Tiananmen Square were options on the cruise but this is the national holiday and apparently traffic is closed off to those sights and you have to walk at least two hours to get to either of them. As well, they are really busy. I think she said there were half a million visitors in the square yesterday so it’s very crowded. I will be seeing those sights on the 15th and 16th when I’m back in Beijing on my Globus tour so I think I’ll wait until then. The 7-day national holiday will be over by then so it shouldn’t be quite so busy (I hope!)
We just went through a toll booth and crossed the city limits of Beijing, and immediately we are in a traffic jam. We have four lanes going our way but we are almost totally stopped. It will be interesting to see if this is what it’s like for the next half of the journey. I’m sure she said it was only 120 km to Beijing and that the speed limit was 120 km per hour but the trip takes three hours so there must be some regular delays along the way.
Now I’m writing on January 18th and going by my really poor memory and a few fuzzy pictures taken from the speeding bus. I remember it was a long bus ride. I don’t remember going on any tours or to dinner with the group but I do remember that I had to leave for the airport the next day about four hours before my flight and that seemed a bit ridiculous. Oh well, what can you do?
My pictures certainly show the size of the development around the port and all the flat undeveloped land around it. There were lots of fields and sectioned areas that were white with what I assumed was salt. Then suddenly there were lots of agricultural fields and many different crops. And in one area there were lots of power lines. And finally in the distance, lots of high rises in different locations as new cities were coming into existence.
Pictures as we entered Beijing showed a lot more construction with cranes everywhere. The highway system is great and there are green parks in all unused areas around the highways. Parts of the city looked modern but other parts looked quite old and dingy. Rivers were neatly banked with walkways on both sides and green space along the banks. The green space along the highways and flowerbeds certainly brightened up the drive.
Once in my hotel room I had a view of some of the high rises and they seemed so dense they were almost touching. But there were green spaces along the streets and there was a playing field just across the street so it didn’t seem so bad. And now that I see the picture I took from my hotel room window, I think I remember where I ate that night. I think I went out looking for a small local restaurant and ended up at a MacDonald’s that was right across the street and around the corner. It wasn’t my first choice but after wandering around for a while I decided it was probably my best choice.
The trip from the port to the hotel was very long. The driver was certainly moving quickly for the first part of the journey on the new highway where there was very little traffic. However, once we got into Beijing the traffic was bad and we really had to slow down. And I guess saying that Beijing is 120 km from the port really doesn’t tell you how far you really have to travel, especially when the city you are travelling into has a population of over 22 million and is quite spread out. No matter where we went in Beijing the traffic was always heavy and it seemed to take forever to get there, which I guess can be expected in such a large city. All of China seems crowded. The population density in China is over 1300 people per square kilometer. Canada’s population density is about 3 people per square kilometer so perhaps I just wasn’t used to so many people all in one location.
A few words about the Diamond Princess
So this was the end of my cruise, which came in two parts with the first being the Alaskan cruise and the second being the crossing of the Pacific and stops in Russia, Japan, South Korea and China, and ending in Beijing. What can I say about the cruise? Well first of all, it was not at all boring on the seven days at sea. I seemed to be busy every day as there were always things to do and enjoy. And no, it didn’t all involve eating. I enjoyed the afternoon trivia contests. I did a lot of reading. They had speakers talking about the ports we would be visiting and there were classes to attend. I went to the ones on Photoshop but don’t expect to see any great pictures any time soon. And of course there were great shows and lots of entertainment every evening. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the crossing but I certainly did and I would consider doing it again any time.
The Diamond Princess is a beautiful ship. It’s definitely big and I’m not sure I even saw all of the public areas. The ship is 288 metres long, 41 metres wide and 62 metres high (above keel - if that means anything to anyone). Basically it was like a 15 storey building but a lot longer than your normal high rise. It has a top speed of 22.1 knots and I think we reached that the night we were trying to outrun typhoon Malacas coming up from the south so we could get behind an island before the wind and waves got too rough. We were really moving that night. In total from Whittier to Tianjin (Beijing) we covered over 5,000 nautical miles, which equals about 9,000 kilometers. Over 3,000 nautical miles (5,000 kilometers) were in the crossing from Whittier, Alaska to Muroran, Japan, our first stop in Asia. Counting the day of departure from Whittier and the day of arrival in Tianjin, the cruise was 16 days in length with 5 ports of call in addition to Whittier and Tianjin, and a total of 9 days at sea. The 7 day Alaskan cruise was in addition to this. I would highly recommend the crossing and an Alaskan cruise to anyone.
posted by Jayne Brooks @ 4:53 PM
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