If you’re a foreigner, Tianjin a great place to live for a few years.   Prices are cheap, people are overwhelmingly friendly and laid-back, and it has all the conveniences of a big city with the atmosphere of a small town (if that’s possible for a metropolis of 9m).   If you’re a tourist however, Tianjin offers only minimal destinations of note, and most of these center around food.   To be specific, Tianjin is most famous for four types of food:

 

1)       Gou-buli Baozi (pork/veggie buns)

2)       18 Street Ma Hua (hard twisted churro-like sticks)

3)       Er-duo (some salty/sweet ear-shaped pastries)

4)       Jian-bing Guozi (breakfast burrito with oil-stick in the middle)

 

Other recommended sights:

 

Ancient Culture Street (bring your negotiation skills)

Bin Jiang Street (Tianjin’s answer to Nanjing Road)

Food Street (notice the recurring ‘street’ theme)

TV Tower (get a great view of the smog from above!)

Nankai and Tianjin University (China’s Princeton and Brown)