Post by nolefan on Dec 19, 2005 21:02:21 GMT 7
I figured it's about time to put some information up about Tangshan since it's one of those forgotten cities.
Tangshan is a city 2 hours east of Beijing and 1.5 hour away from Tianjin. Its clame to fame is the earthquake that ravaged the city back in 1976 killing roughly 250,000 people and bringing most of the buildings down.
There isn't much to see or to do here other than the earthquake memorial and the South lake parc which has horse riding, boating (on mini canoes), and flying kites. Most of the city is fairly new and clean with the air quality being acceptable even for my wife who suffers from asthma.
The city has 3 main roads: Jianshe Lu goes from North to South while Xinhua dao and Bei Xin dao go east to west. The official downtown is at the intersection of Xinhua dao and jianshe lu.
Groceries: the two main grocery stores are Home club and Ba Fan. Home club has two branches in the city and you can get to it saying "Jia Le" to the taxi drivers. One of the home clubs is on Xinhua dao (west side of the city) and the other is on the west side. Bafan is on Bei Xin dao and has a nice aisle of foreign goods including coffee, pasta, olive oil, wines, salad dressings and so forth.
Western food: not much to mention in the way of western food around here other than Marco Polo, Golden Noah, and Brazil Churascaria.
Marco Polo: an authentic Italian restaurant with great food including one of the best pizzas you'll ever eat anywhere. To get there, simply hop on a taxi and say " Maaco Polo Fan Dian," if your cabbie does not know where to go, you can always tell him to go towards Phenix parc ( Fonghuan Shan gong yuan) and that should get you there.
Golden Noah: modeled after a german/austrian restaurant with loads of meats, homebrewed beer and skimpy portions. they have a nice salad bar and all you can drink beer for about 50 RMB/person.
The Churascaria: a nice little cozy Brazilian rotisserie style restaurant on Jian She Road. You can get there by saying " Baashi Cowro" to your cabbies. It's about a block down from the Golden Noah with much better prices and friendly service. you will love the all you can eat meat (lamb, chicken, pork) for 18 RMB/person.
Coffee: There are two notable coffee places in Tangshan: UBC (3 of them in town) and S.P.R. coffee. there is a UBC both on Bei Xin Dao and Xinhua dao. S.P.R. is more of a starbucks style place with great coffees and a nice environment. S.P.R. is on "Dali Lu" close the intersection with of Beixin Dao. If you take a taxi, just head to that intersection and walk along the busy side of Dali Lu. You will see it to your left less than 100 meters away.
Alcohol: Homeclub has a tiny selection of western alcohols but the real goldmine lies in the wholesale store " long Yue" on Xinhua road ( xinhua xidao). They have a fantastic selection ol alcohols from all over the wrold as well champagne and wines. They are now stocking real dijon mustard, nutella, coffee, jam and other goodies.
Cheese: Both Bafan and home club carry cheese slices that can help when you have nothing else.
Tangshan is a city 2 hours east of Beijing and 1.5 hour away from Tianjin. Its clame to fame is the earthquake that ravaged the city back in 1976 killing roughly 250,000 people and bringing most of the buildings down.
There isn't much to see or to do here other than the earthquake memorial and the South lake parc which has horse riding, boating (on mini canoes), and flying kites. Most of the city is fairly new and clean with the air quality being acceptable even for my wife who suffers from asthma.
The city has 3 main roads: Jianshe Lu goes from North to South while Xinhua dao and Bei Xin dao go east to west. The official downtown is at the intersection of Xinhua dao and jianshe lu.
Groceries: the two main grocery stores are Home club and Ba Fan. Home club has two branches in the city and you can get to it saying "Jia Le" to the taxi drivers. One of the home clubs is on Xinhua dao (west side of the city) and the other is on the west side. Bafan is on Bei Xin dao and has a nice aisle of foreign goods including coffee, pasta, olive oil, wines, salad dressings and so forth.
Western food: not much to mention in the way of western food around here other than Marco Polo, Golden Noah, and Brazil Churascaria.
Marco Polo: an authentic Italian restaurant with great food including one of the best pizzas you'll ever eat anywhere. To get there, simply hop on a taxi and say " Maaco Polo Fan Dian," if your cabbie does not know where to go, you can always tell him to go towards Phenix parc ( Fonghuan Shan gong yuan) and that should get you there.
Golden Noah: modeled after a german/austrian restaurant with loads of meats, homebrewed beer and skimpy portions. they have a nice salad bar and all you can drink beer for about 50 RMB/person.
The Churascaria: a nice little cozy Brazilian rotisserie style restaurant on Jian She Road. You can get there by saying " Baashi Cowro" to your cabbies. It's about a block down from the Golden Noah with much better prices and friendly service. you will love the all you can eat meat (lamb, chicken, pork) for 18 RMB/person.
Coffee: There are two notable coffee places in Tangshan: UBC (3 of them in town) and S.P.R. coffee. there is a UBC both on Bei Xin Dao and Xinhua dao. S.P.R. is more of a starbucks style place with great coffees and a nice environment. S.P.R. is on "Dali Lu" close the intersection with of Beixin Dao. If you take a taxi, just head to that intersection and walk along the busy side of Dali Lu. You will see it to your left less than 100 meters away.
Alcohol: Homeclub has a tiny selection of western alcohols but the real goldmine lies in the wholesale store " long Yue" on Xinhua road ( xinhua xidao). They have a fantastic selection ol alcohols from all over the wrold as well champagne and wines. They are now stocking real dijon mustard, nutella, coffee, jam and other goodies.
Cheese: Both Bafan and home club carry cheese slices that can help when you have nothing else.
