Jinan city - China

Jinan (simplified Chinese: 济南; traditional Chinese: 濟南; pinyin: Jǐnán; Wade-Giles: Tsi3nan2; some texts write the pinyin romanization without tonal marks as Ji'nan to prevent a possible misreading as Jin'an) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city is located in north-western Shandong about 400 kilometres (250 mi) south of the national capital of Beijing, it borders Liaocheng to the southwest, Dezhou to the northwest, Binzhou to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Laiwu to the southeast, and Tai'an to the south.
Jinan is renown across China for its numerous springs, the lakes fed by the spring water, and the weeping willows that grow along the water edges. The late-Qing author Liu E describes Jinan's cityscape in his novel "The Travels of Lao Can" (Chinese: 老残游记; pinyin: Lǎo Cán Yóujì, written 1903-04, published in 1907) as "Every family has spring water, every household has a willow tree" Chinese: 家家泉水，户户垂杨; pinyin: Jiā jiā quán shuǐ, hù hù chuíyáng). Jinan was also the historical center of Buddhist culture for the whole province which is still manifest in the many historic sites that are left behind in its southern counties.
Springs and lakes
Jinan is known as the "City of Springs" because of the large number of natural artesian springs. The majority of the springs, many of which have been historically listed under the "72 Famous Springs" (Chinese: 七十二名泉; pinyin: qī shí èr míng quán) are concentrated in the downtown district and flow north to converge in Daming Lake. The Baotu Spring Park is the most popular of the springs in the City of Jinan proper. Besides the Baotu Spring, the park contains several other springs that are listed among the "72 Famous Springs". "Baotu" (Chinese: 趵突; pinyin: Bào tū) means "jumping and leaping" in Chinese. The water in the spring pool can be seen foaming and gushing, looking like a pot of boiling water. The spring was visited by the Emperor Qian Long (1711 A.D - 1799 A.D) of the Qing Dynasty who declared it "the first spring under the heaven" (Chinese: 天下第一泉; pinyin: tiān xià dì yī quán). A tablet with the Emperor's handwriting "Baotu Spring" has since been erected beside the spring pool.
Not far away to the northeast of Baotu Spring Park is the Daming Lake, which, together with Baotu Spring and the Thousand-Buddha Mountain (千佛山) is often regarded as the "Three Greatest Attractions in Jinan". Other notable parks in the city include the Five Dragon Pool (五龙潭) near the Baotu Spring Park, the Black Tiger Spring (黑虎泉) on the southern city moat, and the Baimai Springs (百脉泉) of Zhangqiu City to the east of Jinan.
Buddhist sites
Historic Buddhist sites are particularly common in Licheng County to the south-east of the city center of Jinan. The Four Gates Pagoda (四门塔), built in 661 A.D., is the oldest existing one-story stone tower in China. The pagoda houses four Buddhist statues dating from the 6th century, and the Cypress tree (九顶松) standing next to the pagoda is more than 1000 years old. Below the hill on which pagoda stands lie the remnants of the Shentong Temple (神通寺), which was founded in the 4th century but was destroyed in the wars of later dynasties. The funerary stelae of monks from the temple which date from different historic periods display remarkable artistic features. The statues in the nearby Thousand-Buddha Cliff (千佛崖) form one of the best collections of Tang Dynasty Buddhist statues in the region.
The Lingyan Temple in the southern county of Changqing was one of the four most famous temples (Chinese: 四大名刹; pinyin: sì dà míng chà) of the Tang Dynasty. The temple was founded during the Jin Dynasty and reached its heyday during the Tang and Song Dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, the famous monk Xuan Zang stayed in the temple and translated Buddhist manuscripts he had brought to China from India. Many emperors in Chinese history visited the temple before they went to Mount Tai (one of China's five sacred mountains, located south of Jinan) for ceremonies. The clay sculptures of Buddhas made in the Song Dynasty are considered as "The Best of China" (Chinese: 海内第一名塑; pinyin: hǎi nèi dì yī míng sù) by the great scholar and journalist Liang Qichao (1873 A.D - 1929 A.D). Buddhist architectures within the temple such as pagodas and tomb stelae are among the earliest and best protected in the region.
Museums and libraries
The Shandong Provincial Museum located at the foothill of Thousand-Buddha Mountain is the largest museum in the province. It has a large collection of natural as well as historical treasures from the whole province. The museum was established in its present form in 1982 and right now it has 8 exhibition halls - "Treasures of Shandong Province", "Stone Sculptures", "Warship of the Ming Dynasty", "Ancient Coins", "Art Treasures", "Fossil Collections", "Dinosaurs" and "Specimens". The museum has more than 210,000 relics and specimens, making up 1/3 of the collections in museums of whole province. The Shandong Provincial Museum has been ranked No. 7 in terms of collection size among the museums of China.
The Jinan Municipal Museum is located at the south-western foot of the Thousand-Buddha Mountain, in the north of the city center. Although much smaller than the provincial museum, the municipal museum still houses a collection of more than 20,000 items, most of which were recovered in the city area.
The Shandong Provincial Library in the eastern High-tech Park (address: 2912 Second Ring East Road) is the principal library of the province and is ranked among the Top 10 Chinese libraries. As of 2004, the library had more than 5.18 million documents, many of which date back many centuries and are important sources for research on Chinese history. The library also has a large collection of western journals/books. Originally, the library was built close to Daming Lake in 1909 by the then governor of Shandong. In the late 1990s, a project was undertaken to move the library to the eastern part of the city, and it reopened in 2002 with 35 reading rooms and more than 2000 seats.
Shopping centers
Most shopping malls in Jinan are in the downtown area centered around Spring City Square (Chinese: 泉城广场; pinyin: Quán Chéng Guǎng Cháng) and Spring City Road (Chinese: 泉城路; pinyin: Quán Chéng Lù). Spring City Square was built by the municipal government beside the city moat in the early 21st century; at the center is the statue "Spring" which has become a symbol of Jinan. The square borders on the ancient city moat. It has a music fountain, a 46,000 square meter underground shopping center and a memorial hall with statues of famous people from Shandong.
Spring City Road was rebuilt at the same time that Spring City Square was created. The government's intention was to create a modern business district and yet preserve the traditional Chinese culture. Therefore newly-built shopping malls with traditional Chinese architectural styles and modern western skyscrapers can be found side-by-side along Spring City Road. Notable retail businesses are Quancheng Bookstore - the largest bookstore of the city - and Walmart (near the western end of Spring City Road). Major shopping malls along the road are the Guihe Shopping Center (Chinese: 贵和商厦; pinyin: Guìhé Shāngshà), the Sofitel Silver Plaza, and the Wanda Shopping Mall (Chinese: 万达集团; pinyin: Wàndá Jítuán). In December 2007, construction started on the Jinan Hang Lung Plaza (Chinese: 济南恒隆广场; pinyin: Jǐnán Héng Lóng Guǎngcháng) to the south of Spring City Road (opposite of Water Lily Street), which is projected to become Jinan's largest shopping mall with six levels of retail space and a total gross floor area of 150,000 square meters[29].