Tianjin

Tianjin

Tianjin

Tianjin, Wade-Giles romanization T’ien-ching, conventional Tientsin, city and province-level shi (municipality), northern China. It is located to the east of Hebei province, at the northeastern extremity of the North China Plain. After Shanghai and Beijing, it is the third largest municipality of China. It is also the most important manufacturing centre and the leading port of North China.

Central Tianjin (the municipality’s urban core) lies about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of central Beijing and about 35 miles inland from the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), a shallow inlet of the Yellow Sea. Tianjin municipality, like Beijing and Shanghai, is under direct control of the State Council.

Tianjin (meaning literally “Heavenly Ford”) has been an important transport and trading centre since the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1206–1368). It was famous as a cosmopolitan centre long before the arrival of the European trading community in the 19th century. Its maritime orientation and its role as the commercial gateway to Beijing fostered the growth of an ethnically diverse and commercially innovative population. The city is noted for its woven handicraft products, terra-cotta figurines, hand-painted woodblock prints, and extensive seafood cuisine. Area Tianjin municipality, 4,540 square miles (11,760 square km). Pop. (2002 est.) city, 4,993,106; (2010 prelim.) Tianjin municipality, 12,938,224.