China Travel Guide

Jinan, the capital of East China’s Shandong Province, is known as the City of Springs. More than 100 natural springs can be found there, and they are most impressive during the rainy season in August. Jinan has four distinct seasons, but for tourists, the best periods to visit are from March to June and from August to September.

Perhaps the most awesome of the springs is the Baotu Spring in the Baotu Spring Park. The crystal water creates a thunderous sound as it gushes forth from the spring’s three outlets. While you’re in the Baotu Spring Park , be sure to visit the Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall. It was built in honor of the most significant female poet of the Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD), and her statue and her works etched onto stone tablets are housed inside.

In the Lingyan Temple are 40 life-sized, colored sculptures of Arhat (a type of Buddhist sage) that were crafted during the Song Dynasty. Their facial expressions are striking, their dress is vivid, and their muscular features are almost lifelike.

Visitors to Jinan will not go hungry, whatever their taste in food. Origin of the Shandong style of cooking, some dishes are crisp, others tender, some sweet, others salty. All are quickly cooked. The most popular dish in Jinan is Sweet and Sour Yellow River Carp, while its most traditional is a delicious vegetable soup known as Pucai in Milky Soup, eaten by locals since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Local specialty handicrafts include Jinan embroidery, (also called Lu embroidery) one of the country’s most ancient varieties of embroidery, and handmade black pottery, first produced at the start of the latter-Neolithic Age.
Any visit to Jinan should include a short trip to the nearby town of Qu Fu. This town spawned one of the greatest thinkers, statesmen and educators in Chinese history: Confucius. It was his school of Confucianism, spread throughout the land by his disciples, which shaped the very essence of traditional Chinese culture. Located at the center of the town are the Confucian Temple and the Confucian Cemetery. Some of the great philosopher’s descendants still live in the town.
Name: Jinan Jinan
City: Jinan
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