Shipbuilding is an industry that is large in scale and high tech, as well as producing beneficial flow-on effects to downstream industries and the wider economy. For this reason national and local governments around the world are keen to support local shipbuilding industries wherever possible.

We visited the Tianjin headquarters of CSIC Corporation, one of China’s most important ship building companies. At a meeting in the main office, a representative of the company explained to us the some of their flagship projects, including in the fields of technology, international cooperation, and ship orders from abroad.

We then donned our hard hats and walked along the shipyard itself. Hulking, gargantuan, partially-built ships, siting in dry dock, were towered over by even more massive cranes and equipment – a scene that repeated itself far into the distance. The air was filled with the energetic clanging sounds of heavy industry, followed by the high pitched sound of a welder as we began to leave.

Our last destination of our trip was the museum at the ruins of Dagukou fort. Tianjin is the port city closest to Beijing, and was therefore a focal point during the Opium Wars. Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors were aware of the strategic importance of this area, and built forts here. Much of the Dagukou fort was demolished after China’s defeat in the Opium wars at the hands of imperialist foreign powers, but historical artifacts of that time remain.

In retrospect, the shipyard and the museum at the ruins of the Dagukou fort are, respectively, modern and historical examples of how Tianjin has been, and will be a focal point between China’s interaction with foreign countries.