Tianjin Facts

Tianjin or Jin in short, one of the four municipalities directly under the Central Government in China, is located in the northeast of the North China Plain and is the closest seaport to Beijing. The city is one of the biggest industrial and port cities in China and it is also known as 'the diamond of the Bohai Gulf'. Tianjin covers an area of 11,000 square kilometers and has a population in excess of 10 million people.



Historical changes in the past 600 years have made Tianjian a unique city with a mixture of ancient and modern in both Chinese and Western styles. The city has developed a tourism pattern with its downtown area as its main body which is supported by Tanggu and Jixian Counties. In its downtown area there are the Water Amusement Center, Tianhou Palace, Dabei Temple, Muslim Mosque and on its outskirts there are Panshan Mountain, Dule Temple and White Pagoda. Tianjin is regarded as a bright pearl on Beijing-Tianjin itinerary.

Tianjin lies in a temperate zone and it enjoys four distinct seasons a year. The average yearly temperature is only 13C with hot summers (in July the temperature can be higher than 26C) and freezing temperatures in January. The best periods to visit Tianjin are spring and autumn when pleasant temperatures can be expected.

More than 20 varieties of minerals worthy of excavation have been discovered in Tianjin. These include manganese, manganese-boron stone, gold, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, aluminum, zinc, limestone, marble, medical stone, barite, and natural oilstone. Petroleum and natural gas are reserved underground in the plain and the continental framework of the Bohai Sea.

The city is located across the River Haihe, the largest river in north China, which has at its upper reaches more than 300 tributaries of more than 10 km or longer. These tributaries converge into the North Canal, Yongdin River, Daqing River, Ziya River, and South Canal, which, further converge themselves into the Haihe River at Sanchakou near the Jin'gang Bridge of Tianjin. The Haihe, which flows into the Bohai Sea at Dagukou, runs 72 km long with an average width of 100 meter and a depth of 3-5 meter. It used to have 3,000-ton ships navigating on it. Since the project of diverting the water from the Luanhe River to Tianjin was finished in the 1980s, a billion cubic meters of water has been sent to the city every year. The city also has a rich deposit of underground water. In the mountainous area, quality mineral water with low mineral contents oozes from cracks of rocks at a rate of 7.2-14.6 tons per hour, and the flow can reach 720-800 tons per hour during the rainfall reason. There are three large reservoirs with a total capacity of 340 million cubic meters.

In the coastal area, there are a lot of salt- and alkali-resistant plants, such as Chinese ash, Chinese scholar tree, Chinese toon, willow, poplar, and phoenix tree. In recent years, orchards of pear, Chinese date, apricot, peach, grape, and apple have been developed. In the wetlands, there are reeds, calamus, and cultivated water chestnut and lotus root. In the northern mountainous area, there grow Chinese pine, Chinese walnut, walnut, haw, and persimmon. The wild animals are mostly herbivores, such as wild goat, river deer, hedgehog, squirrel and birds. There are about 30 varieties of freshwater fish in ponds and reservoirs, most of which being common carp, snail carp, grass carp, silver carp, and mullet.

Area Code: 022

Zip Code: 300000

Area: Survey on land use conducted in 1990 reveals that Tianjin totals 11919.70 square kilometers in land area, approximately equivalent to 119.2 hectares.

Geography: Tianjin is located at the lower reaches of the Haihe River, its territory lying on both sides of the river. Besides Haihe, several other rivers also run into the sea through the area, such as the New Ziya River, the Duliujian River, the New Yongding River, the New Chaobai River and Canal Ji. The distance from the city proper to the sea coast is 50 km and that to Beijing is 120 km. It is an important passage by sea to Beijing, having served as an important fort and doorway to Beijing since ancient times. It is also a communication hub linking north China, northeast China and northwest China.

The direct distance from Tianjin to Shenyang in northeast China, to Baotou in northwest China and to Xuzhou and Zhengzhou in the south is less than 600 km. The city boasts the largest man-made harbor in the north; its Tianjin Port is an important passage linking a dozen of provinces and cities in the north with the sea. With more than 30 navigation routes leading to more than 300 international ports, it serves as a major channel linking the continents of Asia and Europe by sea. Tianjin geographical position and strategic importance is unmatchable.

Population: Tianjin has a Population of 11,519,000 (2007). 

Administrative Division: Tianjin is divided into 16 county-level divisions, including 13 districts and 3 counties. In addition, the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) is not a formal level of administration, but nevertheless enjoys rights similar to a regular district.

These districts and counties are further subdivided, as of December 31, 2004, into 240 township-level divisions, including 120 towns, 18 townships, 2 ethnic townships and 100 sub districts.

Climate: Tianjin features a four season, monsoon-influenced climate, typical of East Asia, with cold, windy, dry winters reflecting the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone, and hot, humid summers, due to the monsoon. Spring in the city is dry and windy, occasionally seeing sandstorms blowing in from the Gobi Desert, capable of lasting for several days. Monthly mean temperatures range from -2.9 to 26.9 °C (26.8 to 80.4 °F) from January to July; the year averages out at 13.2 °C (55.8 °F) and more than half of the 540 millimetres (21.3 in) of precipitation falls in July and August alone. The above statistics and factors combine in making the city a transition between three different zones: humid subtropical, humid continental, and semi-arid (Köppen Cwa, Dwa, and BSk, respectively).