Day 100+5 - Finally done!

I think it is seriously over by now. Today I had the last exam and so all classes are done. I missed going to Klubben (The ASB Student bar) for a beer with some of my colleagues, but some of my classmates and me instead started almost directly after class a little trip to Tianjin.

Being in Beijing for all the time was getting boring! Especially as I spend some time studying lately and didn't see much of other stuff, well... Whatever. Tianjin was a welcome relief. Although I thought it might not be so different from Beijing as it is the third largest city in urban area or the fifth largest in population or whatever, who knows this exactly?! It is not important - it is a big city! Not far away from Beijing - only about 150 Km south west, it has at least 10 million inhabitants, and it is also in China. Based on this I thought it can't be very different. I was wrong.

We headed to Beijing Railway Station and after some confusion and calls figured out the time, track and that we had enough time for a beer before the train leaves.
The train journey in the slow train wasn't uncomfortable - it was full but we had reserved seats, they served peanuts and beverages and time just went by. As we arrived at Tianjin West Railway Station it was already dark.

In the sticks! Small trainstation, old workers, incredibly high air pollution, everyone staring at us. Didn't look and feel like a 10 million city.
After we took the subway (Wow, they even have two lines there :-P) we found our hotel and checked in. Everywhere around western style architecture. A historical relict from the time around 1900 +. For the evening program there was some seafood on the list followed by some local bar scene experience. The seafood worked very well, the bar scene so so.
Tianjin is located along the Hai He River and its not far away from the cost, therefore the cuisine focusses a lot on seafood. We assembled our own menu in a nice restaurant by picking the fresh ingrediences that were more or les actively swimming in various bassins. The menu was really extraordinary and the location was nicely furnished and with notably service, especially compared to the price, which was with approx. 100 Yuan p.P. extremly low. Here we got the second look at Tianjins European influenced past - all the decoration, paintings and furniture was influenced by western styles.
Later we had a look at some bars - I guess because it was Monday the selection wasn't that overwhelming. But, I don't know if we where even at the right places. Finally we found a nice street with very western decoration - the Eiffel Tower is everywhere in this city..., but the whole street was looking really worn out - best days past; expensive drinks, but live music, some dice games and we went back to the hotel where we finished the evening with some "7/11"(,well, not exactly 7/11, but something like that,) supplies - aarrrrgh, they only sell the Chinese schnapps...

Pictures from both days can be seen here.