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Tijuana crowds up to the United States border as if trying to burst through to the Golden State. It grew in competition with California cities, its prosperity depending on events within Mexico, and in cities to its north. It competed with the wild border towns of the USA in the sunshine and sin stakes, and the Mexican revolution of 1911 caused only a small blip in its fortunes. Shortly after the revolution, business in the nightspots of Tijuana was as brisk as ever.
Tijuana is a roller-coaster city. Overshadowed in the early part of the twentieth century by fast-growing San Diego, it bounced back after boxing and horse racing were banned in upper California. Gambling of all kinds became available; bull-fights, cock-fights and boxing matches were staged; a casino and a racetrack were opened. The city's fortunes dived during the first World War, when Mexico sympathized with the German cause, and soared during Prohibition when movie stars and gangsters mingled with ordinary tourists, and Avienda Revolucion became the world's longest bar. The Depression started the next decline, and the city's economy collapsed when president Cardenas outlawed gambling in 1935. World War II saw the return of gambling and prosperity as tourists once again poured south.
Today, American firms continue to establish factories in the city, taking advantage of the cheap labor. Tijuana is Mexico's fourth largest city, home to more than a million people, the fastest growing city in North America.
A few yards from the border post, beyond the five lane highways of California, is the clamor of a third world city rapidly developing into a modern, prosperous society. Follow the signs to El Centro, past the cheap car repair shops, and the marriage and divorce establishments. Drivers are aggressive, and the narrow crowded streets and lunging pedestrians challenge the tourist's driving skills. Many visitors leave their cars at the border. Taxis are inexpensive and driven with gusto but driving the crowded streets brings its own sense of exhilaration.
The short-term tourist usually heads for the stores restaurants and bars of Avienda Revolucion. Parking can be a problem, but will be a snip for the average New Yorker. Stroll down the Avienda, have a picture taken on a suspiciously striped donkey-zebra, soak in the sun, and take in the local color. You may be moved by the tiny Indian beggars with their large-eyed children selling cheap paper dolls: but be careful, or you may end up like the Pied Piper.
Explore the narrow crowded alleys. Stall owners will approach you with arms full of bright clothing, ponchos, sombreros, or huge heavy Mexican hats. They display belts, buckles, leather jackets, silver and gold rings and jewelry. A few of the larger stores have fixed prices, but most of the peddlers expect you to haggle, and merchandise can be had for a third of the original asking price, with the seller often pursuing you down the street. American dollars are the preferred currency, so if you intend to stray no farther than the city limits, don't bother to exchange them for pesos.
You will probably want to relax between shopping sprees, and plenty of relaxation is available. Don't expect a quiet romantic setting. They exist in Tijuana, but you will have to look hard. You can, if inclined, mix with the American marines and sailors in the rowdy discos and strip joints along and just off the main street. If you like to dance and drink, visit Carlos n Charlies bar, disco dance and join in wet tea-shirt contests with very pretty TJ girls. There's a local custom where a waiter will tip back your head and hold your nose while his assistant pours tequila down your throat from two bottles until you can swallow no more. Festivities start around noon and finish very late.
Restaurants abound, and the food is good authentic north Mexican. In the central district great seafood and excellent steaks are served. There are hundreds of smaller cafes and restaurants in the area, many of them featuring open air dining with roving groups of Mariachi players. If you are an adventurous or iron-stomached eater, hamburgers, hot dogs, and burritos are served from small portable ovens on almost every corner. For travelers with die-hard American taste-buds, McDonald's and Burger King beckon and there are a few Chinese restaurants. My favorite place is Tijuana Tilly's, in the Fronton Palacio on Ave Revolucion, a huge old place with televised horse racing and Jai Alai games upstairs. The food is good, drinks are plentiful, and at night there is dancing in the large room adjoining the bar, or you can examine the hundreds of pictures of 40's and 50's film stars who dined at the place in its heyday.
Most tourists stay for the day only, so the Chula Vista border crossing quite often entails a lengthy wait, during which the idling traveler will be bombarded with 'bargains' by the tireless street peddlers. The alternative exit point is at Otay Mesa, close to Tijuana International airport, opening from 6am to 10pm. It is better to plan on staying in T.J. overnight, and despite first appearances the city boasts several first class hotels, a little way from the town center. The adventurous can stay overnight in the central area in accommodations ranging from crumbling palaces of the 1930's to the unashamedly squalid.
Night life in the city is what you would expect from a border town, noisy and uninhibited. Hostess bars flourish in the basements along Avienda Revolucion, while the young people of Tijuana enjoy a multitude of dance places. For the more sedate, the better hotels have a cabaret, or some sort of Mexican or Spanish band. Night clubs abound.
Outside the central area you will find a cultural center, outdoor dances, musical affairs and multimedia shows. Ten miles west is the seaside town of Rosarito. Tijuana has two bullrings, El Toro, about 2 miles from the center of town, and the huge 'Bullring by the Sea,' six miles away. Mexican rodeos are held in alternating venues and Jai Alai is played during the week in the center of town. Pari-mutuel betting is permitted. Greyhound-racing and horse-racing take place at the Agua Caliente racetrack, and off-track betting is available. For golf fans, the Tijuana Country Club has a semi-private 18-hole golf course.
This is a city on the move, vibrant and self-confident, bursting its bounds, in transit from the poor world to the rich.
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