Life> Travel

Old-world charm

By Erik Nilsson (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-17 09:51

Quanyechang shopping mall is an iconic building in Tianjin's business center. Liu Zhaoming

Relics of a European past in modern China

American Billy Morrison loves living in what he calls "the biggest village in China". And he has no plans to leave Tianjin-China's third-largest municipal area, home to 10.43 million permanent residents and host to a small, but largely devoted, expat community.

After first coming to Guangdong province's capital Guangzhou when he relocated to China five years ago, the Texan found Tianjin had an allure he simply couldn't resist. So he moved there three years later and his infatuation with the place has blossomed into true love.

"Life is good here," he says between sips of beer as he leans back in a chair outside Scooter's Bar. Today, the former professional motorbike racer manages the motorcycle-themed nightspot for his father on the city's main bar strip Youli Lu.

"And business is good here, too," he adds, smiling.

Tianjin is now home to a small but devoted expat community. (From top) Tomas Berena from Spain, Lyudmila Kovalik from Ukraine, Jordan Violaris from Cyprus and Natia Kaikatsishvili from Georgia. Photos by Erik Nilsson

Morrison has joined the ranks of a "really tight group" of expatriates in Tianjin who call themselves "TJ Lifers".

For them, the city's pull is that it offers the many amenities of larger metropolises - but certainly not all of them - without many of the drawbacks of big city life.