IslamiChina has summarized the following Tianjin Muslim travel tips to our Muslim brothers and sisters to travel Tianjin during a short period of time.
Tour Itinerary Planning
Tianjin is located about 80 km away from Beijing. It only takes about 30 minutes now by the bullet train to travel from Beijing to Tianjin. As a matter of fact, Tianjin is not a good destination for Muslim travelers. However, if you do like to see Tianjin, you may arrange a day trip to Tianjin by the bullet train at Beijing's South Train Station. There are bullet train departing for Tianjin every thirty minutes. Once you arrive in Tianjin, you may visit Tianjin's Culture Street and then perform Salat Prayer at Tianjin's Great Mosque.
Accommodations
There is no Muslim hotel in Chengdu, you may choose to stay at international brand name hotels such as Sheraton, Hilton, Holiday Inns and dine at local Halal restaurants in Tianjin.
Halal Restaurants
The easiest way to find a Halal restaurant in China is to look for local mosque. Mosque is always located in the center of a Muslim community, no doubt, Halal restaurants can be found around Mosque serving local Halal food. In Tianjin, Halal restaurants are also located in other part of the city serving Southeast Asian Cuisine, local Tianjin Halal cuisine and Xinjiang Uyghur Cuisine, Lanzhou Beef Noodles can be found in many parts of Chengdu.
Mosques
Tianjin Great Mosque which was built in 1703 is a culture relic under Tianjin Municipal Government Protection. Tianjin Great Mosque is the largest mosque now in Tianjin and Tianjin Islamic Association is located here.
Money Exchange
You can exchange traveler's checks or cash at most banks, and most 5-star and 4-star hotels always have a money exchange counter. You can also get a cash advance on your credit card on ATM machine. The exchange rate all over China are the same fixed by Bank of China. To change money, you have to have your passport at hand. If you want to change money in a hotel, you usually have to be a guest there. Sometimes if you are not a guest in a hotel but need to change money there, you can just say a random room number, but this doesn't always work. Remember to keep the exchange slip well because you need this slip to change the Chinese Yuan back to your currency if you do have this need at the end of the tour. At present, the RMB is not exchangeable on the International market, so it is only usable within the country. So when you are changing money, don't change too much, because it is difficult to change back into other currencies. To change RMB back into your home currency, you must retain the exchange slips that are given to you at the bank or money exchange counter.