History and Culture

2019 Jan-31

History

The land where Tianjin is located today was created in ancient times by sedimentation of various rivers entering the sea at Bohai Gulf, including the Yellow River which entered the sea in this area at one point. Before this time, it was open sea.

The opening of the Grand Canal during the Sui dynasty prompted the development of Tianjin into a trading center.

Culture

People from Tianjin speak the Tianjin dialect of Mandarin, from which it is derived. Despite its proximity to Beijing, the Tianjin dialect sounds quite different from the Beijing dialect, which provides the basis for Putonghua or Standard Chinese.

Tianjin is a respected home base of Beijing opera, one of the most prestigious forms of Chinese opera.

Tianjin is famous for its stand up comedy and comedians including Guo Degang and Ma Sanli. Ma Sanli (1914–2003), an ethnic Hui and longtime resident of Tianjin, is renowned for his xiangsheng, a hugely popular form of Chinese entertainment similar to comedy. Ma Sanli delivered some of his xiangshengin the Tianjin dialect. Tianjin, along with Beijing, is a center for the art of xiangsheng. Tianjin's patented brand of stand-up also includes the use of rhythmic bamboo clappers "Kuaiban".

Yangliuqing (Green Willows), a town about 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Tianjin's urban area and the seat of Xiqing District, is famous for its popular Chinese New Year-themed, traditional-style, colourful wash paintings (杨柳青年画). Tianjin is also famous for Zhang's clay figurines which are a type of colourful figurine depicting a variety of vivid characters, and Tianjin's Wei's kites, which can be folded to a fraction of their full sizes, are noted for portability.

On September 28, 2015, the Juilliard School in New York City announced a major expansion into Tianjin during a visit by China's first lady, Peng Liyuan, the institution's first such full-scale foray outside the United States, with plans to offer a master's degree program.