Old Tientsin – More Work Needed

It’s amazing that the history of old concession-era Tientsin (Tianjin if you must) has not been researched more deeply, excepting the memoirs of old Tientsiners around. Though not that many foreigners live there it’s only a short hop from Peking. I think that part of the problem is that the treaty port era is not part of the narrative of foreigners living in Peking now in the same way it is rather front and centre in Shanghai. Still bits and pieces do crop up. The latest issue of the China Heritage Quarterly is a special on Tientsin. It doesn’t particularly add much to our knowledge unfortunately but is welcome none the less. Do see the article Draft Sketches from a Tientsin Journal (1980-82) by An Old Concessionaire by John Minford which, though an odd piece of writing, does have a great picture of the old Kiessling’s coffee shop.