Day 3: From Tianjin to Binhai by the sea

Distance: 89.7 km Travel time: 05:14

This morning we were still about 70 km from the sea - now we have arrived in Binhai New Area on Bo Hai Bay. The journey took us longer than we thought and when we checked into our small apartment it was already dark. From the window on the 6th floor we looked out between the facades of the houses at the flat sea disappearing into the darkness.

We travel a good 30 km away from the centre of Tianjin before the high-rise buildings give way to green spaces that spread out before us. We drive through rice fields, past small, shabby villages with increasingly poor road conditions. The journey becomes so difficult that we re-plan the route and take a detour.

We head for another village on a concrete slab road with dilapidated buildings on both sides of the road, then suddenly we are driving on a new 6-lane road. High-rise buildings, some new and some under construction, stretch 20 to 30 stories into the sky. We pass this satellite town, drive on the 6-lane road until it suddenly turns back into a cracked concrete slab road.

By the way, a later look at the map shows that we never left Tianjin. The villages are part of the urban area that stretches to the sea. Binhai is also part of Tianjin.

It is also noticeable that we hardly see any "normal" bicycles anywhere, but only e-mopeds, e-scooters, e-mopeds, e-tricycles, e-mini transporters, etc. E-mobility has been completely normal here for years and the rental e-scooters are even equipped with helmets. The only thing that smokes here are the cigarettes in the drivers' mouths. Judging by the outside, some e-vehicles seem to have been passed down from grandfather to grandchildren. Rental bikes are available everywhere in the big cities, so it's no wonder that there are hardly any bike shops anymore. In our district in Beijing we only found a few small high-end racing bike boutiques with a correspondingly high price level (keyword: seat post).