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Tianjin China Cruise Port Guide
Location:
The new cruise terminal is located south of the Dongjiang port area of Tianjin or Xingang and covers some 1.2 million square meters. The area developed in the first stage of the building project comprises 700,000 square meters and can accommodate 6 large cruise ships at a time. The actual terminal building itself has a surface area of 59,000 square meters and can handle up to 4,000 cruisers, with a total of 500,000 passengers a year..
Taxi from the cruise terminal to Tianjin city centre costs 240 yuan, and takes about 50 minutes. The cruise terminal is NOT in Tianjin, but in Tangku [next to Tianjin]. There’s no bus/train from the cruise terminal to Beijing airport.
The subway in Tianjin itself is very good. Taxi’s are extremely cheap, just show the driver the place on the map, or the name in chinese characters.
Use taxis or ship provided transportation. Beijing is about 90 km away, about 700 yuan and can be booked also by a hotel.
Taxi from Tianjin city centre to Beijing International airport: 800 yuan, but must be ordered in advance by an hotel. The distance is 137km.
Note: If you are embarking or disembarking in this port and have to travel from or to the airport in Beijing, allow lot's of time! Traffic jams, foggy weather etc. are all possible.
Printable map to take along.
Hotels near the Cruise Terminal
Cruise calendar for this port.
Watch a destination video.
Live Nautical Chart with Wikipedia Markers
Monthly Climate Averages for Tianjin China
Sightseeing:
Blessed with variety of tourist attractions, Tianjin is a good place to explore. The top attractions in Tianjin, known as Jinmen Shijing, are Gu Wenhua Jie, Dagu Emplacement, Huangyaguan Great Wall, Dule Temple, Haihe River, Water Park, Panshan Mountain, Hotel Street and Food Street, Tianjin TV & Radio Tower and Zhonghuan Cailian. There are also many natural scenes of beauty as well as great historical events.
Tours Excursions Transportation:
The Tanggu Railway Station is a 30-40 minute taxi ride away from port where you can take a bullet train to Beijing. 320km/hour!
Tickets are sold out of an ATM like kiosk at the train station. You can choose the english option and use a credit card.
The train takes about 90 minutes and cost about $5 per person. A taxi from the train station in Tianjin to the pier is about $10.
Make sure to have instructions written in chinese on a piece of paper. Like I want 2 tickets 2 adults for Tanjing city, REQUEST WIDE SEATS - we need the wider seats us westeners as the other regular ones are narrow and uncomfortable, what is the number of the platform, what time is the train, etc.
Also, in the station there is a VIP waiting room, the cost was something like 8 yuans per person, and it is much better than waiting in the station itself as there could be no sitting room there. Moreover the HUGE station is quite crowded and very noisy.
To get around in the cities, one best uses a taxi: They are cheap and plentiful.
There are roughly three groups of taxi drivers:
Touts: Stay away from them, you are about to pay a multiple of what
you should pay, walk a half a block and you will find a honest cabbies.
The mechanics: They have build their own taximeter, with all consequences.
The honest cabbie: As the Chinese government is clamping down on mistreatment
of tourists, this group is in the far majority( >90%), in fact the
more south you go in China, the more honest people get. Make sure they
put the meter on, otherwise get out!
Important: If you buy a guide book for the town you are about to visit,
make sure it is of the latest edition available. This as the pace of
construction is enormous: what is here today, might not be there tomorrow!
Make sure the maps in your guide book have "english" as well
as "chinese"
characters, so you and the cabdriver can communicate by pointing at
the map. Cabdrivers only speak chinese.
Nearby Places:
95% do not visit Tianjin, but visit Beijing!
With the biggest central square in the world - Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City that is the largest and best-preserved imperial palace complex, a superbly preserved section of the Great Wall, as well as the largest sacrificial complex in the world - the Temple of Heaven, Beijing attracts both domestic and foreign visitors who all come to wonder at its century-old history and unique cultural relics.
If taking the train yourself is too much of an adventure for you, by all means book the ship's excursion to Beijing.
We suggest you buy a guide book on Beijing as its offerings are so many!
It pays to compare your cruise line shore excursions here
Shopping and Food
Every large tourist town has at least one or more shopping malls for westerners. Often the only place one can buy larger clothing sizes. Although these malls are fun, please be aware that almost everything is fake and that the bargaining is hard. The quickest way often is to show with bills in your hand, how much you are willing to pay and than walk on. If they than gesture you back finalize the deal. Always stay courteous.
Restaurants are often found in clusters in certain parts of the city, recognizable by very colorful decorations to attract customers. Stroll by and look for restaurants that are patronized by chinese families themselves. Most menu's have pictures of the items served. Seafood in general is kept alive in large tanks. Eating out in China is a feast, with very little etiquette, and in general rather noisy. Enjoy the fun! Only drink bottled water even use that if you have to brush your teeth. Use common precautions when eating out.
Currency:
The Yuan (or Renminbi RMB).
Occasionally you will be given a counterfeit bill, mostly in a small denomination. Nothing you can do about it, just keep it as a souvenir.
Communication:
There is complimentary high speed Wifi access at the cruise terminal.
Emergency number China: 110
Hong Kong and Macao: 999
Opening Hours and Holidays:
There seem not set opening hours for stores, it seems as long as there are customers they stay open.
Chinese New Year (about two weeks long) is the time when all the Chinese are traveling and transportation can be very hectic.
Holidays in China
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