Last Monday Karen and I decided to photograph scenes from one of the many rivers in Tianjin. We realize that the seasons will be changing soon and we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having!
We decided that being photogs would be easiest on a full stomach so our first stop was the newly renovated Astor Hotel. The original Astor hotel was built in the 1800’s by an English gentleman. It is a beautiful hotel and has been closed since we have been living in Tianjin. I was excited to try the restaurant and have a look around. The menu looked very good and had a sandwich that sounded perfect for a hot afternoon - mozzarella and tomato with a pesto mayonnaise on ciabatta. Unfortunately, when the sandwich arrived, they had replaced the mozz with goat cheese. Had they told me when I ordered that they did not have mozz, I would have ordered something else, but it is acceptable here to substitute without asking!! There was no way my stomach could handle a large chunk of goat cheese, so we spent the next 20 minutes explaining to the waiter and finally the chef why it is not acceptable to substitute a completely different cheese into a sandwich! The chef was very kind and did find us an acceptable cheese to put in our new sandwiches!!
We put this experience aside and went off to look for a small museum that Karen knew had been located in the hotel before renovations. We went to the front desk, which seemed the logical choice to ask if it was still there. The woman behind the desk probably needs some customer service tips. We tried to explain to her in a number of different ways that we wanted to look at the pictures from the museum/old hotel/famous residents/etc... In the end she asked if we wanted her to find us a photographer!! In the end, it’s probably better not to ask! We did find the museum, which was located less than 100 yards away from the front desk, however, it was not open to the public yet! Right beside the museum was the oldest elevator in Tianjin - very interesting find for the day!!
We finally left the hotel and walked across the street to the river. We had both seen many swimmers in the water on previous occasions and we wanted to capture it! I was so excited to use my new “big” camera to get some great shots, but doesn’t it figure, I pulled it out, turned it on, and the battery was dead!! Oh well!! I still had my “little” Cannon! We found the spot where the swimmers go, but they were all finishing for the day. I got this great photo of a man having his wash in the dirty water - he was not real happy I was taking his picture.
Then, we met a nice man who spoke flawless English. He explained to us that the government does not really allow people to swim in the river for many obvious reasons (pollution), but they do not stop it either. We asked him why he preferred to swim in the river and not in a proper pool and he told us that he swam every day regardless of how cold it is! He enjoys it and at first he thought it might make him sick, but he has been doing it for almost a year and has been fine!
Although I don’t plan on jumping into the river anytime soon, to each his own!!
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