Chapter 401 - 213: Touring Tianjin
Jinwan Square!
Located in the Peace District, it was named Jinwan Square because it sits on a bend in the Hai River. The plaza is surrounded by various European-style buildings, which has also made it a landmark tourist attraction in Tianjin.
At night, illuminated by a variety of lights, it looks especially magnificent. Coupled with sightseeing cruises on the Hai River, tourists visiting Tianjin will all experience a night cruise on the river to admire the nocturnal scenery on both banks.
Su Chen and his companion were no exception. After settling in at the hotel, the two of them decided to come check it out and find a place to sample the local cuisine.
Jinwan Square wasn’t far from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where Su Chen was staying—only about a kilometer, a walk of just a few minutes.
On their way over, the two of them passed through something like an underpass. To their surprise, there were many young men and women with cans of spray paint, busily painting the walls on both sides.
"Graffiti?" As he entered the underpass, Su Chen realized that both walls were covered with all sorts of drawings—cartoon characters, landmarks, and the like, adding a bit of scenery to the ordinary passageway.
Naturally, plenty of tourists were posing for photos in front of their favorite graffiti art.
Even Chen Fei, upon seeing some of the nice pieces, took out his phone and snapped quite a few pictures.
The moment they emerged from the underpass, a wide plaza and a night market filled with the aromas of various delicacies greeted their eyes.
"Huh. I didn’t expect Tianjin to be this interesting. Jinwan Square actually allows street vendors to set up stalls."
This wasn’t just an idle comment from Su Chen. After all, most tourist attractions don’t have many food stalls, and even if they do, they’re usually run by the attraction’s management.
But a place like Jinwan Square was truly a rare sight, with a night market set up right along both sides of the plaza. Visitors could enjoy the beautiful night scenery while tasting foods from all over. No wonder Jinwan Square had become a must-visit destination in Tianjin.
You get to see the sights and taste the food—it’s the best of both worlds.
As he smelled the aromas wafting from the various food stalls, Su Chen swallowed hard. A wave of hunger washed over him, and he felt the urge to eat his way through the entire street.
However, the food stalls were swarming with people, which made Su Chen’s head spin. ’How long would the lines be?’
’We’re already here, so what’s a little waiting in line?’ Su Chen muttered to himself, as if trying to console himself.
With that thought, he gave Chen Fei a look and headed toward the nearest food stall.
"Yo, yo! Check it out! Come and get your jianbing guozi!"
"Want an egg? Add some tenderloin..."
As he got closer, he saw a small speaker on the stall playing a non-stop recording. It was surrounded by a crowd, and Su Chen assumed they were all waiting in line to buy jianbing guozi. But when he got a better look...
He discovered it was all young, beautiful women holding up their phones, filming the stall’s owner.
Why was he getting so much attention? What kind of jianbing guozi vendor wears just an apron, revealing faint outlines of his abs and pecs? On top of that, he had a rather handsome face and would occasionally strike a cool pose for the onlookers.
How could that not attract the attention of all the pretty female tourists?
Su Chen was also dumbfounded by the scene. ’Is this how people do business nowadays?’
In ancient times, they had the honey trap; today, they have the handsome-man trap.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Doing business really isn’t simple these days. People have started selling their looks."
Although Su Chen said that, his body was very honest.
He noticed that many of the surrounding food stall owners were young people—and handsome men and beautiful women at that. Su Chen made a beeline for the stalls run by the pretty female owners and started buying snacks.
After making their way through the food street, both Su Chen and Chen Fei were about eighty or ninety percent full. They were still carrying several kinds of specialty snacks and cold drinks.
Looking at the two or three bags of snacks in his hands, Su Chen handed them to Chen Fei without a second thought, not forgetting to add, "You’ve got a bigger appetite. Eat up so it doesn’t go to waste."
Chen Fei opened his mouth, about to say he couldn’t eat anymore, but seeing Su Chen’s "you can do it" look, he could only accept the bags in silence, alternating between bites of snacks and sips of his drink.
Jinwan Square was part of the old French Concession, so naturally, the architectural style was European. It had a bit of the feel of Shanghai’s Bund, but unfortunately, it didn’t have dozens of buildings like Shanghai does. With only a few such buildings on either side of Jinwan Square, it didn’t feel particularly stunning.
They strolled around for a while, and Su Chen’s feeling of fullness subsided quite a bit. As for Chen Fei, he had polished off the snacks in his hands, but he had to hold his side as he walked, looking like he’d eaten himself into a stupor.
"The Hai River cruise ships look pretty sci-fi."
The tour boats looked like something out of a sci-fi movie—like starships. They were single-decked with a flat, glass-paneled bow. Ambient lights were installed all around the boats, giving one the feeling of traveling through space when passing under a bridge.
Su Chen’s interest was instantly piqued. He called over to Chen Fei, who had just sat down, and headed for the pier.
Although it wasn’t peak tourist season, the line was still quite long. After waiting for about ten minutes, he spent two hundred yuan on two tickets and finally boarded the cruise boat.
This was Su Chen’s first time on this kind of sightseeing cruise. As the boat slowly pulled away from the pier and began to travel along the Hai River, he finally understood why so many people wanted to see the sights from the water.
There was no other reason—the viewing angle was just that good. You could take in the entire nighttime scenery on both banks of the Hai River.