Old Tianjin, Meet New Tianjin

Last Sunday I went to a part of Tianjin called the "hu-tongs." I don't know the English translation but it is an old housing compound of Tianjin that is now being torn down in order to "beautify the city for the Olympics." Most of the people have already moved out of the area but some still remain. It's hard to tell how many homes or people used to be there but you can think of it as a rather large neighborhood, with small shops and businesses scattered throughout. One friend that I went with had been there several times and he had chatted with some of the locals so we went to visit those people that he knew from previous visits. One man said that he had to be out within a week but wasn't sure where he was going yet. Another elderly couple said that they had been in the hu-tongs for 53 years and had raised their 3 children in the 20 square meters that belonged to them. They also had to be out within a week as many of the buildings around them had already become heaps of bricks.

The strangely ironic part was that when we left the hu-tongs we literally biked across the street and walked into a Starbucks. We could see what the people were doing in the hu-tongs while we sat there with our lattes and smoothies. The area around the hu-tongs is extremely developed, as you will see in some of the following pictures.

Take a look at my mini photo gallery and keep in mind that just 4 days after these were taken most of the places probably look drastically different today...

I love this picture...it's absolutely priceless.


An old photo left amongst the rubble.


This character is painted on walls throughout the area - it means "condemned."


There's a man on the roof behind the tree - he has a sledgehammer and is busy knocking down a wall.

They were in the process of taking down a building while we were there.


Some kids playing in their quickly disappearing neighborhood.


A new apartment complex just across the street from the hu-tongs.

Now, I'm not sure what will happen (or has happened) to the people leaving this area. One can hope that they will be fairly compensated and will find a newer, nicer home. The hu-tongs were, in reality, not a great place to live with many under-developed facilities but this was their home. Many of them are still negotiating the price per square meter that they will receive and I just hope that it is enough to improve their conditions.