Tales of Cities | Tianjin: Rooted in passion, reaching for future

Tianjin, born along the Haihe River and facing the Bohai Sea, is an important coastal city in north China. The mixed characteristics of river and sea have been woven into the fabric of the city, making it stay grounded while dreaming big.

Urban vigor and vitality

As the morning light gently graces Tianjin, the city awakens with the rising sun, bringing hustle and bustle to its streets and corners.

With sizzling sounds mingling with irresistible aromas, piping-hot Jianbing Guozi, or crispy dough sticks rolled in a thin pancake, are crafted by skilled hands. It's how a typical day in Tianjin kicks off, always with authentic local delicacies.

Inside the city's Northwest Corner, which gets its name due to its location in the northwest corner of the old city of Tianjin, visitors are often overwhelmed by its food offerings, from Guobacai, which is a delightful blend of shredded dried jianbing, savory broth, and toppings, to fried rice cakes.

Foodies from near and far can not only enjoy a mouthful of tasty flavors, but can even get a hands-on experience to explore deeper into the city's food culture. The immersive experience leads visitors closer to stories behind food, making the urban vitality of Tianjin more approachable.

To feel the city's pulse, on top of famous landmarks, small shops tucked away in alleys are also worth visiting. A salon hidden inside a residential building in Tianjin's Hedong district has gained popularity online for its special Tianjin-style hairdo. Zhu Fengmin, the shop's owner, believes that the delicate hairstyle mirrors locals' upbeat and positive attitude towards life.

This "old-fashioned" hairstyle, once most commonly worn by middle-aged and elderly women, has become an internet sensation, gaining popularity among the youth and even foreigners. As more and more visitors from far and wide travel to the city to try out the hairdo, Tianjin locals' passion for life is becoming increasingly palpable.

Cultural inheritance and innovation

When storytelling meets performance, history comes alive at Tianjin's Zhangyuan Museum, a century-old building bearing witness to the city's vicissitudes.

Photo shows an immersive performance exhibition about old Tianjin staged at the Zhangyuan Museum, north China's Tianjin, July 3, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Yuan Meng)

This is part of the museum's efforts to bring history alive, with docents serving as actors and actresses, props set in original buildings, and performances in the style of Xiangsheng, a traditional Chinese cross-talk show.

In September 2023, the Zhangyuan Museum was designated by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism among the first national pilots for immersive storytelling of cities.

Fu Jia, both deputy director and docent of the museum, said that the immersive show launched by the museum integrates performances, interactive experiences and technology, sharing with visitors the historical and cultural background of the site and even the city, and attracting more young people through this innovative form.

Along Tianjin's Ancient Culture Street, a street housing a collection of featured shops, from traditional handicrafts to local delicacies, a quaint store stands as a highlight. Lifelike clay figurines anchored in daily life, literary works, mythology and so on are neatly displayed inside. It provides a glimpse of "Clay Figure Zhang," a clay sculpture art developed in Tianjin.

"Clay Figure Zhang" is one of the representatives of clay sculpture art in north China, and was listed among the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

Passed down for nearly 200 years, this nationally recognized household folk art is gaining new charm with themed cultural and innovative products, such as calendars, fridge magnets and bookmarks, winning over more consumers, especially among the younger generations.

Innovation and inheritance are redefining the cultural texture of this coastal city.

Global vision and future-oriented

At a rainbow-colored terminal of Tianjin Port, giant cargo ships lined the docks, automated gantry cranes rose and fell, and AI-driven transportation robots shuttled back and forth. The scene was bustling yet orderly.

Photo shows a scene of the world's first zero-carbon intelligent container terminal in Tianjin Port, north China's Tianjin. (Photo courtesy of the entity interviewed)

This is the world's first zero-carbon intelligent container terminal officially put into operation in 2021. Since then, the port has taken on a new look, achieving a green and smart upgrading.

"The design of Tianjin Port's overall operation plan is both bold and forward-looking," said Sun Yujin, a supervisor at the technology department of Tianjin Port Second Container Terminal Co., Ltd., adding that the success of the port can be attributed to a spirit deeply rooted in Tianjin people, one of resilience, grit, and unwavering drive to innovate and push boundaries.

Nowadays, Tianjin Port boasts trade connections with over 500 ports from more than 180 countries and regions. In 2024, its cargo throughput reached 579 million tonnes and container throughput 23.29 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Physical connectivity goes side by side with people-to-people exchanges.

Between June 23 and July 16, this year, 15 faculty members from L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan received training sessions, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), at the Tianjin Vocational Institute.

Participants of the Luban Workshop's training session engage in classroom discussions at the Tianjin Vocational Institute, north China's Tianjin, July 2, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Rong)

It represents the ongoing preparations for the second Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan, which is slated to be officially inaugurated and put into use this October.

The Luban Workshop, an international vocational education brand spearheaded by Tianjin, gains its name from the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban. It aims to share China's advanced technical and vocational education and training (TVET) technologies, standards and resources worldwide.

Gulden Ulyukova, a senior lecturer at the department of information security, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, is a participant of the training session. In her view, with courses in deep learning, machine learning, data mining and industrial internet security, the Luban Workshop is a good opportunity for Kazakhstan to advance its technical education.

Li Guohui, a teacher at the College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Tianjin Vocational Institute, oversees the new workshop's construction on behalf of the institute. He said that the Luban Workshop not only helps bring China's latest technologies to young people in other countries, boosting local growth, but also fosters more envoys of friendship among countries, contributing to common development.

Tianjin, the host city of the 2025 SCO summit, stands ready to welcome guests from all over the world with its simple joys of everyday life, signature flavors, time-honored traditions, and answers to the future.