A Brief View of Jinan

Jinan, the capital of Shandong, is located in the western part of the province. It is the center of politics, economy, technology culture and transportation.



Jinan is adjacent to Tai Mountain in the south and Yellow River in the north. The city was founded 2600 years ago, and is a renowned historical cultural city and one of the cities being initially awarded "China Top Tourist Cities".
Jinan is know to the world by its plentiful springs, thus gaineda beautiful name of "Spring City". All springs converged and formed "Daming Lake", who echoes with the famous Buddhism Mountain "Qianfo Mountain" at a distance. They Jointly present to the world a magnificent scene. "The city is enclosed by lotus and full of willows in three directions; enclosed by mountains and half of the city is occupied by lakes," as a famous poet of Qing Dynasty once wrote.
Jinan has a long history, and owns tremendous cultural relies and historic sites. Longshan Culture, one of the three great ancient cultures, was originated from here. The Great Wall of Qi Dynasty located in the south of Jinan, has a history 400 years longer than the Great Wall people usually know and visit in Beijing. LiuBufour-door pagoda is the single storey stone tower with the longest in China. The forty painted sculptures of arhat of Song Dynasty in Lingyan Temple, has gained a reputation of "the First Renowned Sculpture within China".

In Recent years, with the construction of lots of sight spots such as Wild Animal Park, Red Leaf Valley, Wohu Mountain Ski Resort, wufeng Mountain International Golf Yard etc., the city is attracting tourists coming in a continuous stream from the country and also overseas.

Culture and History

Jinan is an ancient city and enjoys cultural fame in China. According to some archaeology discoveries, human activities began to appear 8000 years ago. In 1928， archaeologist Wu, Jinding found the relics of Shandong Longshan Civilization and remnant of the ancient state which was over 4600 years old. Jinan the capital of Qi dynasty during Chunqiu era, and it also played a vital role during other eras of Chinese history.

Jinan is a place that nourishes great people history. The famous and outstanding woman poet, LI Qingzhao, lived by Baotu Spring—the “Number One Spring in the World”. XIN Qiji, another famous poet and patriotic general, also lived in Jinan. XIN Qiji and LI Qingzhao both lived in Song Dynasty, and represented different styles.

Other famous figures people are familiar with are Confucius and Mengzi. Although they were not exactly raised up in Jinan, their home towns are both not far from it and they were active in the Jinan for their political purposes.
Tian Shun was also from Jinan. Tian Shun was one of the leaders in early Chinese Civilization who lived thousands of years ago. There are lots of famous stories about him, among them was the how he built up dykes to prevent floods of the Yellow River. His temples can be found on the Qianfo Mountain, or the “Thousand-Monks Mountain”.

Bianque, the famous doctor lived in Zhanguo Era. This industrious and intelligent man invented anesthetics and used his special techniques to cure thousands of people. His stories are known to almost every Chinese and can be found in Chinese textbooks.

Qin Qiong, the brave general of Tang Dynasty who was one of the founders of Tang. It is said he lived in Wulong Tan (or the “Five-dragons Spring”). He is loved by many Chinese people. Even the trees that he used to tie his horse were considered as “lucky trees”. People would touch them for they believe these trees can bring good luck.

Some of the Famous Sites

Jinan is called the “Sping City”, not for the season Spring, but for the water. There are 72 famous springs, and hundreds of others that are not as famous, but are part of people’s daily life. The most famous one is Baotu Spring, which is the “Number One Spring” of the world. Heihu Spring (Black-tiger Spring), Wulong Tan (Five-dragon Spring), Zhenzhu Spring (Pearl Spring) are also very famous.
The Qianfo Mountain, or the “Thousand-monks Mountain” is famous for its natural beauty as well as for its religious and cultural background.
Daming Lake enjoys a national fame. Its beauty attracts people all the year round.
The historical sites such as the Qi Great Wall and Lingyan Temple are also worth visiting.
The Wild Animal Zoo, Red-leaf Vally, Baiyun Lake and other sites will also give you great entertainments and relaxation.

For more information about the beauty of the city, please visit the Places of Interest section.
The link can also be found on your right hand side.
http://placeofinterest.blogspot.com/

Transportation

It is really convenient to travel within Jinan by bus. Taxi is also always in your service. Taxis in Jinan are white, and you can wave to any taxi on the road.
Rail ways link Jinan with other cities in China. There are also planes flying to many other countries from Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport.

Fro More Information about Transportation in Jinan, please visit the Transportation section.
The link can also be found on your right hand side.
http://transportationinjinan.blogspot.com/

Restaurants and Hotels

Please Visit the Restaurant and Hotel section
The link can also be found on your right hand side.

http://restaurantandhotel.blogspot.com/

Shopping Guide

Please Visit the Shopping section.
The link can also be found on your right hand side.