How is the city of Tianjin described in the novel, Nights When Nothing Happened?

From the text:

"Beyond the high-rises were the cobblestoned streets flanked by forts and villa-style houses...that Italian invaders had erected. The giant cross on a French cathedral bore down on pedestrians...A Japanese house with manicured gardens had once been home to the last emperor of China...There were German barracks, British hotels, Austro-Hungarian mansions."