Tientsin Country Club & Racecourse (26 images)

The Collection has been included in part for family reasons but mainly in recognition of the wonderful restoration the Tianjin authorities have undertaken. The Club is now called “The TY Club” and, with very few exceptions, the entire property has been restored almost exactly as it was when originally built.

I first visited the Club in December 1997 when on a business trip to Tianjin with a client. I had been to the city the year before and on that occasion had...
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The Collection has been included in part for family reasons but mainly in recognition of the wonderful restoration the Tianjin authorities have undertaken. The Club is now called “The TY Club” and, with very few exceptions, the entire property has been restored almost exactly as it was when originally built.

I first visited the Club in December 1997 when on a business trip to Tianjin with a client. I had been to the city the year before and on that occasion had managed to find the house in which my father was born. Encouraged by this success, my father had given me an old family photo’ from 1931 of members and their children skating on a frozen lake in the Club grounds. And with the help of a member of the hotel’s concierge team, we soon found the Club, although unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore.

My next visit was in January 2002 and I arrived in the middle of a Friday afternoon tea dance. That was much fun in itself but I was also able to look around the main building, although most of the rooms were closed-off and it was difficult to see any detail.

In November 2004 I returned to the Club and this time my father was with me. On this occasion the premises was locked-up but an understanding caretaker, on hearing of my father’s childhood in Tianjin, gave us a guided tour. Thanks to this most generous gesture we spent a happy hour looking around. It was like a time-capsule, seemingly almost completely undisturbed from the pre-war days, although it was all very tired and tatty.

I revisited once again in November 2007 but the Club was locked and so we made do with looking for traces of the old racecourse.

In May 2014, however, on yet another visit, I was in good time to find the Club fully restored; the restoration having been completed at the end of March. Once again I was very fortunate to be given a tour around the premises and, as I hope these images reflect, the result of the restoration is spectacular!
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