Part 2, because there's too much greatness to be confined to one post!

I headed to my next destination, the Xikai Cathedral. Again deciding to walk I worked my way through Tianjins backstreets, which are infinitely more exciting than the dusty car filled main roads. I was proven right and took in the little restaurants that were situated in what looked like peoples front gardens. There was a little portion of pavement turned into a mosaic using broken china, and most amusingly two gigantic old grey phones (literally the size of an Encyclopaedia) outside someone’s house, that you could pay to use!

As I neared the cathedral I came across a big shopping mall. Now the toilets in malls are obviously nicer than the public ones. In Beijing they often have a mix of squatters and Western style toilets. This is because some Chinese think Western toilets are filthy and very unhygienic. In fact the Grandma in my family squats on the toilet, with the lid up! I have no idea how she has that much balance. Many Chinese don’t close/lock the doors either. In their opinion touching the door is horrible. In fact a lot of children wear split trousers so they don’t have to touch anything with their hands when they need the toilet. 

(Not my picture, off of Google images)

So I headed to the toilets, to be confronted with a very cramped corridor of loos – most without doors- there was minimal space between the people waiting and each cubicle. So I had a full on view when a woman squatted down on her toilet, without closing the door, and proceeded to call someone on the phone. How she has the balance for that kind of thing I’ll never know.

The Cathedral itself was built in 1916, and heavily damaged by both the Red Guard and an earthquake in the 1970s. It was rebuilt and opened in 1980. It looks remarkably well preserved and has been given Very Important Protection!

Like any famous Religious building, it doesn’t have that sense of peace and quiet normally associated with churches. Which, unfortunately I was craving. The city seemed full to the brim, and I just wanted to sit somewhere cool and quiet for a few minutes. Apparently personal space is a luxury in China.

As I was taking pictures a beggar kept coming up to me, and trying to get my attention buy tugging my bag. I assume this was because I’m Western and obviously more of a soft touch! There were people giving out sermons at the front doors so at least there was some semblance of religion there.

I’d been told that The Western quarter had some impressive architecture so that’s where I went. I wasn’t particularly blown away by it. It all seem quite bland, and whilst definitely Western style, not particularly worth the 45 minute walk. I wish I’d gone to the mosque instead.

However it was very popular with the Chinese tourists, and many were indulging in Horse and Carriage tours, or on four person ‘bikes’, or vintage cars. I personally wandered round a couple of streets then found a bar. I enjoyed a nice couple of chilled beers, which were definitely necessary, and spoke a bit of Chinglish to a group of girls sitting at the next table. 

By now it was time to walk the hour and a half back to the station. I gave myself plenty of time, which was lucky because the queues were insanely long. I also got accosted by an old lady who insisted that I must be cold and that I needed to put a jumper on, and despite my protestations she kept following me until I went into a café. All in all a good trip, might have to put a bit more organisation in next time though…