I noticed China has done away with the "Foreigners Ticketing Counter" and you now just queue at any counter. Foreigners still can't buy tickets from the ticketing machines though.
After Shanghai, I decided to specify my desired departure time. Previously, they gave me little time on my Shanghai Hongqiao-Hangzhou trip, so I wasn't able to explore the Hongqiao hub at all. This time, I specified, not exactly to explore Beijing South (which is designed to look like a crab from above), but have some breakfast.
Had some breakfast at Yonghe King. I swear to God that it was the best hot soy milk and best dough fritter I've ever tasted - better than anything I've tried in Singapore, which is shocking considering that Yonghe King is a fastfood chain.
Soon, it was time to board...
Although it wasn't operated by the next generation CRH380 trains like the CRH380A I took between Shanghai Hongqiao and Hangzhou, I was still quite excited because I wanted to ride on a Siemens Velaro train. And it's only on the Beijing South-Tianjin route that I'm guaranteed on it.
Tianjin was a disaster. After I arrive, I usually buy my return ticket so well, at least, I'm guaranteed a return trip back. To my horror, I was shocked that the ticket agent told me that the evening return trips were sold out. They offered me an alternative - return to Beijing earlier or choose a slot the next day. I was a little bumped out because I kinda wanted to see the Binhai area too, but now, I didn't have that chance.
The other bad news was that in some sense, the weather in Tianjin was worse than in Beijing. Although it was slightly warmer (at 14 deg C), the fog was thick, and the gusty winds that began not long after, plunged temperatures to about 5 to 8 deg C.
As you can see, I just roamed around. But thankfully, my risk paid off as I finally found myself in the commercial shopping district. It was just as well, the rain, fog and winds were starting to annoy me.
Around now, the fog began somewhat clearing and the winds began to blow.
I did some much needed shopping at UNIQLO, then chilled at Starbucks where I spent my time just people watching and editing my photos for my main blog. Soon, it was time to go back...
Tianjin Railway Station.
The station looks positively dull from the outside but it has been recently refurbished and given the generic new railway station interior with lots of skylights, lots of waiting spaces and a main hall.
Note the train arriving and the cars with tinted windows waiting. Looking at the arrivals board, it was not listed, so I can only imagine it was for some government officials.
Time to board... I'm seated in car no. 8, so it was a long walk but it gave me opportunities to spot other trains.
Above: Note the 17:05 hours - it was not the time I wanted to leave Tianjin. At 55 Yuan (SGD 11), it was a tad expensive, considering I paid 42 Yuan (SGD 8.40) for Shanghai Hongqiao-Hangzhou, and that sector was longer at 145km while this was about 130km.
I contemplated visiting Wangfujing, but decided to take things a little easier at the hostel because tomorrow, I had a very tiring day.