Tianjin, Dirty City?

Some people have asked me if Tianjin is a dirty city. I guess that depends on your definition of dirty. There is a lot of dirt. Everywhere. There is an amazing amount of construction (and destruction) everywhere you look.

If you share my definition of dirty, which is garbage lying around everywhere, then Tianjin is one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. Everyday there are thousands of workers on every street (at least it seems that way to me) sweeping the dirt to the side and picking up the garbage. These workers are even on the major highways, sweeping.

Tianjin has made it a priority to become greener. They are planting trees and shrubs everywhere. There are little gardens along most roads. I get the feeling that they think there is nothing they can do to stop the pollution, so the best thing they can do to improve their air quality is to plant trees. Another area of beauty in the city is the riverwalk. The Haihe River runs through Tianjin. Look at the pictures I have posted to see the improvement in the riverwalk from one side of a bridge, where the riverwalk is finished, compared to the other side, where they have some work left to do. Notice also all the construction cranes in the photo.