Jinan

Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in eastern China, on the plain south of the Yellow River. Known as the City of Springs, it has many natural springs that rise from limestone beneath the old town.

Jinan has been a city since the Han dynasty, and its name refers to its place south of the old Ji River. Remains of the Longshan culture, a Neolithic culture known for its thin black pottery, were first found in 1928 at a site that is now within Jinan. The poets Li Qingzhao and Xin Qiji of the Song dynasty were born in the city, and Li Qingzhao wrote some of the best-loved poems of Chinese literature. In 1904 the city opened itself to foreign trade, and the railways from Qingdao and Tianjin made it a market for the grain and cotton of Shandong.

Sinotruk, based in Jinan, builds heavy trucks under the HOWO and Sitrak names. Inspur, also headquartered in the city, makes servers and cloud computing systems.

Baotu Spring, in a park in the center, bubbles up from three vents into a pool and was praised by the Qianlong Emperor. Daming Lake, fed by the springs, is surrounded by willows, pavilions and old temples. Furong Street, a lane of old courtyard houses with springs in their yards, is lined with food stalls. Thousand Buddha Mountain, south of the center, has Buddhist statues carved into its cliffs from the Sui dynasty onward. The Shandong Museum shows bronzes, jade and pottery from across the province, including black pottery of the Longshan period.