This week as I wait somewhat patiently for my email to load, I’ve been walking the streets of Tianjin. One of the first places I wandered was to the Tianjin Tianhou Palace (天津天后宫), a temple located near Tianjin’s Antique Street (古文化街). The Antique Street is similar to dozens of other souvenir/faux brand markets around the Middle Kingdom but does offer the advantage of being a lot more laid back than Panjiayuan and a lot less pricy than Liulichang in Beijing. The relative absence of foreign tourists (I saw two the whole afternoon) means the yelling/grabbing sales approach is nearly nonexistent making for a pleasant shopping experience.
The Tianhou complex itself was originally constructed in the Yuan dynasty (1326 CE) and got an overhaul early in the Ming dynasty but most of the existing structures date back only to a 1985 major renovation of the place. Few of the original buildings had survived intact to the 20th century and those that did suffered a grim fate during the GPCR. Despite its condition, the temple played an important role in the social and spiritual life of Tianjin even into the PRC era. Scholars of Chinese religion might find it interesting that