Jinghai District 静海区

Setting and landscape

The district covers 1,475.68 square kilometres. Binhai New Area (滨海新区) lies to the east, and the Duliu Jianhe floodway (独流减河) separates it from Xiqing (西青区) to the north-east; Bazhou (霸州), Wen'an (文安), Dacheng (大城) and Qing County (青县), all in Hebei, lie to the north-west, west, south-west and south, and Huanghua (黄骅) to the south-east. The South Canal (南运河) passes through, as do the Ziya (子牙河), Daqing (大清河) and Heilonggang (黑龙港河) rivers. Tuanbo Lake Reservoir (团泊湖水库) is one of Tianjin's two main nature reserves, in the government's description. Oil- and gas-bearing strata under the south-eastern townships fall within the Dagang oilfield's exploration area, and coal-bearing strata are widespread.

History

A county named Jinghai (靖海县) was set up in 1193 under the Jin, and the present characters (静海) date from the early Ming. Jinghai County was one of five Hebei counties moved to Tianjin in 1973, taking effect on 1 August, and became a district in July 2015.

What to see

Duliu (独流), in the north of the district, takes its name from the meeting of the Ziya, Daqing and South Canal rivers, which join into a single stream ("du liu") there. It had Song-era stockades, grew into a market town after military farming began in 1404, and became a town in 1923.

The Samaranch Memorial (萨马兰奇纪念馆) in the Tuanbo new town (团泊新城) was founded by the IOC member Wu Ching-kuo (吴经国). It is a 4A scenic area whose 14 sections display books, stamps, sculpture and paintings from Juan Antonio Samaranch's collection, with letters and photographs connected with him, and the district government calls it the only memorial to him authorised by his family and approved by the IOC.

Food and local products

Duliu is known as the "home of vinegar" (醋乡): Duliu mature vinegar (独流老醋) is ranked with Shanxi mature vinegar and Zhenjiang vinegar among China's three famous vinegars. Its brewing technique was added to the national intangible heritage list in 2021. The heritage entry links it to local wheat, sorghum and beans and to South Canal water, and notes that a Jiajing-era gazetteer of Hejian prefecture (河间府), to which Duliu belonged under the Ming, records vinegar-making. The Tianli (天立) brand of Duliu vinegar dates from 1665.

Highlights

• Duliu 独流: Town named for the joining of three rivers; market town since the Ming.
• Duliu mature vinegar 独流老醋: Brewing technique on the national intangible heritage list since 2021.
• Samaranch Memorial 萨马兰奇纪念馆: 4A museum in Tuanbo new town with 14 exhibition sections.
• Tuanbo Lake Reservoir 团泊湖水库: One of Tianjin's two main nature reserves.