The city is noisy and busy. Yet the lives of the people are calm and quiet. Even today, when about half the city is undergoing construction work, you can see people going out to the riverside to fish peacefully in the early morning, or swimming upstream against the almost stagnant river flow. Scenes that you see often in any Chinese city, such as people practicing tai-chi in the park or gathering on street corners in the evening to practice traditional dance, are especially noticeable in Tianjin.

This year marks the 600th anniversary of the founding of Tianjin. Nestled on the coast near the capital of Beijing, Tianjin emerged early as a principle commercial center of the Hwabei region. True to its name, which means “Emperor’s Quay,” the city has served as a gateway to the sea. Following China’s defeat in the Second Opium War in 1860, it opened as a trading port under the Treaty of Tianjin. Britain, France, Germany, and Japan established independent settlements here, while the concession zone, known as Machang Dao, retains many traces of its contemporary history.

Turn a corner in Tianjin, and you are liable to encounter classical Greek columns, French-style roof architecture, or German Gothic windows. The city’s buildings are so cosmopolitan in design that you can easily imagine yourself in a museum of world architecture. This is partly a result of the municipal planning policy, which ensures that no two buildings are alike, but it also reflects the city’s history as a treaty port with a variety of international building styles.

“It’s changed since last month; it’s changed since yesterday. It must be China’s fastest-changing city.” A Korean student couple I met in Tianjin were amazed at the pace of change in this city. The Chinese government has targeted Tianjin, together with Beijing, for generous support as a focus of modernization. The resulting changes are so drastic that it’s hardly an exaggeration to say the whole city is being rebuilt. Every day, roads are being widened, buildings erected, and the city’s infrastructure dramatically improved.

Beijing is for sightseeing but Tianjin is for shopping

It’s often said that Beijing people lay great stress on culture; Shanghai peoples are international, and Tianjin people stand out for their conservatism. A conservative feel and a preference for the simple life are considered characteristic of Tianjin residents. Though Tianjin people I met in the shops, restaurants, and streets were a lot friendlier than would be expected from their powerful voices and gruff style of speech. As a newly developed city, Tianjin now has more wealthy residents than in the past but the great majority still continue to live a simple and frugal life.

The best place for walking in this city is the shopping district, Binjiang Dao. This broad street running from north to south is lined on both sides with innumerable shops that make you realize why they say “Beijing for sightseeing, Tianjin for shopping.” The haphazard assemblage of buildings catches your eye everywhere while cute little shuttle buses run along the center of the wide road.

If you’re looking for something a little different from the shopping district with its flashing neon signs, you could try the Gurou area. Like Seoul’s Insadong, this is a district of newly constructed traditional-style buildings, and a great place to browse for souvenirs like traditional ceramics, paintings, ornaments, and clothes.

Machang Dao, which still bears the marks of history as a treaty concession zone, has been transformed into a café district. Inside these distinctive buildings that transport you to another era, the taste of a leisurely meal or a cup of tea has a special appeal amid the bustling city.

One of the most striking characteristics of Tianjin is that water is everywhere: the Hai He River that flows through the city, in vast Shuishang Park, and in the Tianjin Broadcast TV Tower, built over the water. Because the land is flat, when you dig a hole, water accumulates, naturally forming lakes and leisure spots. In the morning it’s not hard to find people fishing peacefully in the rivers and lakes. The new Eunha Park was made in the shape of a crescent moon. It is large and impressive enough to suit the continental temperament, and the air of mystery it brings to the city at night is fast making it Tianjin residents’ favorite nightspot.

Family is the world

With their reputation for conservatism, the Tianjin people may not be much interested in politics, but instead they devote themselves to their families. In the early morning, grandfathers exercise in the park with their grandchildren, carrying them affectionately in their bicycle saddles. Parents take their children to school, carrying their bags and watching from the front gate until the child has disappeared from sight. Even by East Asian standards, where the love of children is always strong, it’s a moving sight.

With the national policy of one child per family, the interest and affection of Chinese parents has come to be centered on their only child. With four grandparents and two parents focusing on a single child, it’s only natural that parental love creates a “little emperor.” For the parents, taking their child to school and bringing their child home, by bicycle, motorbike, or car, is a big part of daily life. An exam day is such a big family event that they take the day off work to ferry their child to school and back. Perhaps it’s this view of spending time with the family as more important than work that creates a leisurely feeling even amid the bustle of the busy streets.

You might expect these “little emperors” to be spoiled and ill mannered, but some children I met in Tianjin seemed quite radiant with optimism and self-confidence. “How do you say ‘I love you’ in Korean?” they asked me with a grin, sitting down next to my table as I strove to combat the heat of Tianjin with refreshing shaved ice. Nowadays, the local kids have a passion for Korea and a consuming interest in Korean TV stars. “Sa-rang-hae-yo,” I answered, one syllable at a time. The children giggled to each other and repeated the phrase, attaching the names of their favorite Korean stars. Do they know how fast their country is developing, and how prominently their city sits in Northeast Asia? I try to ask them, but they just smile innocently.

Like a beacon flaring up into the sky

Tianjin is often compared to Shanghai. If Shanghai is a city that has achieved a high level of industrialization, Tianjin is a city that dreams of a limitless leap ahead from its long-standing rivalry with Shanghai. With Shanghai and Beijing, Tianjin is one of the three cities under direct central government administration, and as a designated focus of modernization, it receives unrelenting support from the national government.

To the quay once used by the Emperor, come great ships from the harbors of the world. The city seems born anew each day. Once dominated by light and heavy industry, Tianjin is gradually becoming a base for high-tech industries like precision engineering, electronics, and IT. Since more than half its exports go to Korean companies, it has become known as the “Korean factory city,” and is now emerging as both a production base for China and a hub of the Northeast Asian economy. Besides growth and development, the city must now address issues of the environment and orderliness, for it is no longer a question of Tianjin for China, but of Tianjin for the world. In the process of capitalization under the planned economy of the Chinese government, Tianjin must also deal with distribution of wealth issues between the rich and poor.

The lights that illuminate the city at night don’t just shine on the streets and people; they leap up high into the dark night sky. Like a great unexplored continent where no one has gone before, the future of Tianjin stretches out further and wider than anyone can foresee. Like a beacon flaring up into the sky from dreams of prosperity a hundred years ago, its outward appearance is dazzling; but like a river that flows on quietly as prosperity rises and falls through the centuries, the people of Tianjin still live a thoroughly Chinese life. In Tianjin, China’s open policy of a communist government and a capitalist economy presents a picture of the future, not just for China, but also for the world.