I grew up here

By Joyce Pei

My hometown is Tianjin. It’s a well-developed city, located in northern China, and it only takes one and half hour drive from the capital Beijing. The climate in Tianjin is not as warm and humid as that in the south, but it is distinct in four seasons. The weather here is warm, windy and less rain, which is very suitable for vacation. Historical changes in the past 600 years have made Tianjin a unique city with a mixture of ancient and modern in Chinese style. Tianjin is a beautiful city, and it is known for its River, and famous for cultural places and traditional foods.

River Hai is the symbol of Tianjin, the river breaks through the downtown of the city like a long winding dragon. The River Hai is a long picture scroll, which makes Tianjin scenic. Its most beautiful moment is when it is moving under the night light. The night lights along the river are like thousands of stars, lighten up the night of the River Hai. The colorful lights reflected in the river like beautiful rosy clouds running slowly. The cruise ship sails along the long winding dragon-like river making colorful ripples, creating beautiful scenery. On the riverside, green willows make shaded along the stream, and the smell of blossom diffuses in the air. People stroll along the river, peaceful and tranquil.

The Tianjin ancient cultural street is the most popular cultural place in Tianjin. All the buildings and shops on that street are Qing Dynasty styled. This dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China. The buildings are mostly in rad, which bring people a warm and happy feeling. The shops on the street sale Tianjin traditional products like clay figurines and New Year Pictures. My favorite is “Kite Wei”, it is a shop of a famous kite artist in Tianjin. The kites he created remains the Chinese traditional kite structure and art, but it can also be folded like modern kites in to a small bag. It is a treasure of traditional handicraft. This street maintained the architectural style and basic line type of that year. It is a unique cultural landscape in Tianjin, and we can learn a lot of old traditional Tianjin culture. One of the popular Tianjin traditional food is “Jianbingguozi”, they are a kind of pancake, but with eggs and sauces, and wrapped in fried dough sticks. My family loved it, because this combination is just so tasty, with spicy sauces and delicious wheaten foods. We always eat them on Sunday morning, and it is the only way to wake me up early on weekends.

There is a famous traditional Tianjin steamed stuffed bun shop called “Goubuli”. Goubuli's steamed buns are more salivating than any other steamed buns. They are oily, tasty and not greasy. In Chinese, “Goubuli” means ignorant dog. When I first knew this, I was shocked, “Why do people like to eat foods that dogs ignore?”. But when I tried it, it was quite delicious, and then I wanted to know the reason for naming it that way. It turned out to be that there are back stories behind it.

There was a poor village boy named “Gou”. When he was young, he came to a steamed food shop to be an apprentice. His master liked him a lot because of his diligent. With the care from his master, his cooking skill progressed quickly. Soon, he had his own shop specialized in selling steamed stuffed buns. Gou concentrated on the skill of making buns, pioneered the special recipe that the industry praised. For his good craftsmanship and conscientious, the shop attracted people hundreds of miles away to eat his steamed buns. Gou’s business was booming, more and more people came to his shop. He became terribly busy, and he couldn’t attend to talk with his customers, so people said to each other “Gou selling buns, ignores people”. Over time, people called him “Goubuli”. This also made me understand that you can’t judge a person or a thing only from their outside, maybe they have a backstory behind.

I love my hometown Tianjin. It is known for its river, and famous for cultural places and traditional foods. It’s a beautiful city with profound cultures, a shining pearl over the River Hai.