Shuishang Water Park. February 2019. [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn]

Rising beyond the 'Water Park' and its now almost iconic ferris wheel is the 415.2 metres Tianjin Radio and Television Tower (Tianta). Dating from 1991 it quickly became a prominent landmark in the days of the city's rise as a major industrial centre for northern China. That period has passed but the tower remains a symbol reaching to a sky today increasingly blue. The city has moved increasingly beyond its earlier heavy industrial period, something I have personally witnessed particularly over the last 15 years.