This has got to be one of the closer Starbucks to a Tianjin Metro station, which rings of heavenly delight for your mass transit freak. He picked up a Starbucks flask emblazoned proudly with the word TIANJIN on it — and still he is not happy about the Starbucks there, unfortunately. Probably a victim of its own success, getting online there can be a wait that will drive you up the wall.

Tianjin is a truly ge’er (哏儿), or “cute” / “funny” (in the local lingo), city. It’s one of these places that throws you something unexpected — all the time — and at the same time, takes away that bureaucracy and straight-grid-as-hell avenues from the Beijing from you and rewards you with a real river or two. The city is just a thirty minute ride away by high speed rail, yet always manages to differentiate itself from its more capital-istic neighbour.

The Xiaobailou Starbucks is spread out over two floors, which is one of the “spacier” Starbucks in the area. (Right next by is, amongst other things, a Starbucks sandwich outlet, a config we’ve seen again at SOGO Xuanwumen, Beijing.) And while you get a probably bigger share of soft, plush sofas, the wifi seems to be sucked away as well. Some months ago your blogger was happily tweeting away. Some months later, it seemed like everyone’s suffering the wifi blues. Things get especially bad around 2 PM in the afternoon, when it seems like every living organism in the area comes into the café.

The place is probably located in the best spot on the map — right by Xiaobailou Metro station. If they can get their wifi in order, this is a great place to chill out.

Wifi: Free; password-protected (they give you the password with any purchase).
Signal: Difficult to get on.
VPN support: OK if you can get a smooth connection; if you can’t, sorry — forget it.
Transit links: Just by Exits A and D near Xiaobailou station, Tianjin Metro Line 1.

Starbucks Xiaobailou, Tianjin (星巴克小白楼 - 中国天津) (see on foursquare)
Xiaobailou
Tianjin, China