Large in size, with thin, pale yellow skin. The core is small, and the flesh is delicate, tender, juicy, sweet, and fragrant with a subtle aroma. …
A treasured folk art of Tianjin, Tianjin kites are known as one of the “Four Great Arts of Tianjin” alongside the clay sculptures of Zhang, Yangliuqing New Year paintings, and Tianjin carpets. With over a hundred years of history, they are made from high-quality silk, pure paper, and fine bamboo. Using contrasting warm and cool colors in their painting technique, these kites are exquisitely crafted, lifelike in shape, and fly steadily. The craft also developed more than 200 varieties such as flat, bow, string, and miniature kites. In 1914, they won a gold medal at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition and earned the reputation of “Kite Wei.” The “Dunhuang” brand kites, produced by Tianjin arts and crafts workshops continuing the tradition of Wei Yuantai, received the highest national award—a silver cup—at the 1914 National Hundred Flowers Awards for kites. Today, Tianjin kites come in a wide range of types, with the largest stretching over a hundred meters and the smallest small enough to fit into an envelope. All are foldable for easy travel, suitable for flying high in the sky or for indoor display.
Tianjin has a local snack called “Black Beans,” which are actually boiled spiced fava beans, also known as fennel beans. It’s said that among the old Tianjin locals, the best “Black Beans” come from Tianmu Village. There’s also a folk tale that goes like this: Legend has it that Emperor Qianlong, traveling incognito along the Grand Canal on a southern tour, docked his boat at Muzhuangzi (now known as “Tianmu Village”) north of Tianjin city. He disembarked and passed by a shop, where he was enticed by a delicious aroma.
Tianjin specialty—South American White Shrimp, one of the region’s major aquatic products, is renowned for its long-standing reputation. The shrimp has a thin shell, plump body, delicious meat, high meat yield, and is highly nutritious. It is globally recognized as one of the finest varieties for aquaculture, originally from South America, and was first introduced to China in 1988. 1996
Ingredients: a handful of wood ear mushrooms, chopped scallions, minced garlic, soft tofu, Sichuan peppercorn and star anise, kelp pieces, red tofu sauce, and sesame paste. To make Tianjin Old Tofu, the most important parts are the broth and the sauces. There are four types of sauces, each placed in a separate bowl. Before eating, pour the broth over the soft tofu, then add the sauces — it’s incredibly fragrant. The four sauces are sesame paste sauce, Sichuan peppercorn and star anise soy sauce, tofu sauce, and garlic sauce.
A famous specialty handicraft of Tianjin. With a history of over 300 years, its products are exported to many countries and regions abroad. The carpets are exquisitely crafted, featuring beautiful patterns, lustrous colors, and a strong ethnic artistic style. Tianjin carpet artisans pioneered unique techniques such as shear carving and chemical washing, giving the carpets a “satin-like sheen after washing and cloud-like texture after cutting,” and
Tianjin specialty — whitebait, scientifically known as Neosalanx anderssoni, was historically called "culinary remnant fish." Legend has it that whitebait are formed when leftover food dissolves in water. They are cylindrical in shape, scaleless, containing only a single cartilage inside, and even their fine bones are edible. By late autumn to early winter, they grow up to 20 cm long and weigh over 100 grams. As they do not consume miscellaneous food but absorb nutrients directly from the water, their bellies remain clean without any visible internal organs.
Preserved fruits and candied snacks are common in Beijing and Tianjin, and the yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls) derived from them are quite unique. As the name suggests, preserved fruit yuanxiao are those filled with candied fillings, such as honey mixed with white raisins, or hawthorn and red date flavors, mostly sweet and tangy in taste. In fact, yuanxiao made with preserved fruits as ingredients, featuring a variety of flavors, have been increasingly available on the market, with pumpkin, banana, and sweet orange fillings constantly emerging.
Tianjin Light Fare — Whole Lamb Soup
Wujiapi liquor is made from premium sorghum, a specialty of Tianjin, combined with more than ten kinds of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. It has a mildly sweet taste and is known for its effects in dispelling rheumatism and promoting blood circulation while relaxing tendons. Packaged in traditional ceramic bottles that exude an antique charm, it is especially popular in Southeast Asia and the South Seas islands. …
Tianjin’s ivory carvings, with their exquisite and delicate craftsmanship as well as unique designs, have earned a place among the nation’s craft treasures. To further elevate the art of ivory carving, artisans have also expanded micro-carving techniques into three dimensions, skillfully blending carving and engraving into a single, ingenious form. Tianjin’s jade and ivory carving works have won numerous awards in national competitions. …
Chestnuts are not only rich in starch but also contain a variety of nutrients such as protein, fat, and B vitamins, earning them the title "King of Dried Fruits." They can serve as a grain substitute and are known alongside dates and persimmons as "staple trees" or "woody grains"—an affordable, nutritious tonic. Red Oil Chestnuts, Tianjin Sweet Chestnuts—Tianjin chestnuts are
Its primary use is to be dried into red dates, but it can also be eaten fresh. This variety has relatively weak tree vigor but is highly productive and yields consistently. There are over 20 types of fruit, with an average weight of 4–7g per jujube. The skin is thin, the flesh is thick, and the color is bright red, shiny and attractive. The texture is fine and crisp, with moderate juice content, and an extremely sweet taste. The pit is small. The drying rate is 60%, and fresh jujubes contain 30–38% soluble solids. When overripe, the fruit can be split to reveal yellow threads, hence the name "Golden Silk Jujube." Dried jujubes contain 74–80% sugar. The fruit stores and transports well. It prefers fertile clay or loamy soil, has poor tolerance for poor soils, but strong resistance to salinity and alkalinity, making it suitable for growing in saline-alkali land. It is currently the highest-quality variety of red date. The ripening period is in late September.
The preparation of the Eight Great Bowls can be divided into refined and rustic styles. The refined Eight Great Bowls include: sautéed fish slices, shrimp in sauce, family feast, osmanthus fish bone, smooth fish in sauce, shredded pork Sichuan-style, large Sichuan meatballs, and tenderized meat. The rustic Eight Great Bowls include: stir-fried green shrimp, chicken strips in sauce, fully stewed crab roe egg custard, sea cucumber meatballs, ingot meat, clear soup chicken, deboned chicken in sauce, and home-style braised carp.
Thin foods are soup-based, filling meals, often served in the morning, hence also called breakfast thin foods. Tianjin’s thin food varieties can be broadly divided into soup, stew, and porridge types, numbering nearly a hundred with diverse styles. Among the soup varieties, there is one where chicken breast is coated with dry starch, repeatedly pounded with a wooden mallet into thin sheets, then cut and mixed with egg whites, water, and flour to form a slightly firm dough. This is rolled out into noodles about the thickness of spaghetti, boiled, and then ladled into a bowl. Salt and MSG are added, and it is topped with “three-mix soup” (made by simmering chicken, duck, and beef in water). This is the traditional “Pounded Chicken Noodle Soup.” Before liberation, this dish was a delicacy for wealthy families. The “Eight Great Chengs” (restaurants known for serving Tianjin-style cuisine under the “Cheng” brand) used to prepare and sell it. With carefully selected ingredients and exquisite preparation, it had a unique style—snow-white, tender yet smooth noodles, clear and piping hot soup that was both delicious and nutritious. Using the same method for making “Pounded Chicken Noodle Soup,” one can also make “Pounded Shrimp Soup Noodles”; if the sheets are made into wonton wrappers and filled with meat, they can be turned into “Pounded Chicken Wontons.”
is renowned for its delicate beauty and innovative themes. Tianjin jade carvings draw on a wide range of materials and rich content. Local artisans excel at making full use of the natural colors and patterns of carefully selected jade stones, skillfully conceptualizing and carving them to fully showcase the artistic charm of the pieces. Among Tianjin’s jade handicrafts, those made from hydroquartz agate are particularly distinctive. Inspired by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin’s poem "The Jade Pool," the hydroquartz carving "Peach Banquet" has been designated as a national treasure.
The main ingredient of Guoba dish is guoba, which is made from premium mung beans and high-quality millet ground with water into a paste, spread into thin pancakes, and then cut into willow-leaf shapes. A savory broth is prepared with sesame oil, chives, chrysanthemum, starch slurry, soy sauce, and fermented tofu. Then, the guoba is placed in the broth and gently mixed until it is fully coated. It is then scooped into a bowl and sprinkled with chili oil.
Gengma Steamed Enzyme Tea is a specialty of Gengma County in Lincang City, Yunnan Province. This tea features tightly rolled, straight strips; its broth is emerald green, clear, and bright, with a fragrant, sweet aftertaste. It can be steeped many times without losing flavor and is rich in beneficial compounds. It helps relieve summer heat and thirst, promotes beauty and longevity, aids digestion, prevents aging, resists radiation, making it truly a fine gem among teas. Yunnan Gengma Steamed Enzyme Tea.
Tianjin Cuisine…
Panama's Carmen Estate claims to practice “100% hand-picking at high altitude near volcanoes,” and recently made its debut at the Panama International Trade Fair, drawing considerable attention. It also achieved a top ten finish in the Natural Gesha category of this year’s Best of Panama (BOP) green coffee competition. The Carmen Estate is located in Panama’s...