Tianjin Audioguides

When the Second Opium War ended in 1860, the victorious European powers did not simply impose indemnities on China -- they installed themselves. Tianjin ended up with eight separate foreign concession zones, each with its own architecture, administration, and character. The British concession looked like an English municipal district. The French zone had the proportions of a French town. The Italian concession came with piazzas and arcaded streets. The effect of all these imported styles compressed into a port city on the Hai River is something that exists nowhere else in China, and the streets of the old concession areas still carry that layered, improbable quality today.

The city's own food culture is equally singular.

Goubuli baozi -- steamed stuffed dumplings so famous the original vendor's nickname (meaning 'ignored by dogs,' a joke about how busy he was) became the brand name -- are a Tianjin institution. Jianbing, the savory egg-and-spring-onion crepe made by street vendors on griddles at dawn, was arguably invented here. Mahua, the fried dough twists sold in twisted pairs, are sold as gifts across the country. The Binhai New Area east of the city, developed as a financial hub since the 1990s, has built a skyline that has been compared to Manhattan reflected in a harbor, which is either promotional excess or accurate depending on the light.