Jinan, China

Capital of Shandong, China

About Jinan

Jinan is the capital of the Shandong province in Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. 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 has held sub-provincial administrative status since 1994. Jinan is often called the "City of Springs" for its famous 72 artesian springs.

Etymology

The modern-day name Jinan literally means "south of the Ji" and refers to the old Ji River (濟水) that had flowed to the north of the city until the middle of the 19th century. Similar names can be found in Jiyuan (lit. "source of Ji River") and Jiyang (lit. "yang (north) side of Ji River"), The Ji River disappeared in 1852 when the Yellow River changed its course northwards and took over its bed. The current pronunciation of the character "Ji" with the third tone (jǐ) was established in the late 1970s. Prior to this, it was pronounced with the fourth tone (jì). Older western texts spell the name as "Tsinan" (Postal romanization) or "Chi-nan" (Wade-Giles romanization). In ancient times, Jinan was also called the "estate of Luo" (濼邑), Luo refers to Baotu Spring, this can be seen in oracle bone scripts of Di Yi and Di Xin. …

History

The area of present-day Jinan has been inhabited for more than 4000 years. The Neolithic Longshan culture was first discovered at Chengziya to the east of Jinan (Zhangqiu District) in 1928. One of the characteristic features of the Longshan culture are the intricate wheel-made pottery pieces it produced. Most renowned is the black "egg-shell pottery" with wall thicknesses that can go below 1 millimeter. During the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BCE) and Warring States period (475–221 BCE), the area of Jinan was split between two states: the state of Lu in the west and the state of Qi in the east. In 685 BCE, the state of Qi started to build the Great Wall of Qi across Changqing county. Portions of the wall still remain today and are accessible as open air museums. …

Climate

Jinan has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dwa), with four well-defined seasons. The city is dry and nearly rainless in spring, hot and rainy in summer, crisp in autumn and dry and cold (with little snow) in winter. The average annual temperature is 14.9 °C (58.8 °F), and the annual precipitation is 734 millimetres (28.9 in), with a strong summer maximum, and high variability from year to year. January is the coldest and driest month, with a mean temperature of −0.3 °C (31.5 °F) and 5.0 millimetres (0.20 in) of equivalent rainfall. July is the hottest month, with a mean temperature of 27.4 °C (81.3 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 40% in July to 58% percent in May, the city receives 2,226 hours of bright sunshine annually. Due to the mountains to the south of the city, temperature inversions are common, occurring on about 200 days per year. …

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Culture and contemporary life

Local residents in the city proper, as well as in the surrounding areas, have traditionally spoken the Jinan dialect of Mandarin that is not readily understood even by native speakers of standard Mandarin. The younger people of Jinan are more likely to speak standard Mandarin, whereas many older residents retain strong local dialect elements in their speech. Nevertheless, even the younger residents of Jinan tend to retain a strong local accent and mix local vocabulary into the standardized Mandarin vocabulary. Due to the influx of migrant workers during the past decade of China's economic boom, many of the current population that are of working age are not natives of Jinan but have learned to understand the Jinan dialect. Jinan has its own cuisine, the Jinan style of the Shandong cuisine, one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of China. …

Economy

With the shift of the Yellow River to a new bed right to the north of Jinan (in 1852) and the establishment of a railroad hub, the city became a major market for agricultural products from the productive farming regions to the north. Following the trade in agricultural goods, the city developed a textile and clothing industry, flour mills, oil presses, as well as factories producing paper, cement, and matches. In the 1950s, large iron and steel works as well as chemical factories were established around Jinan. The large metal works produce pig iron, ingot steel, as well as finished steel. In the 1970s, Sinotruk established its headquarters and factories for the production of trucks and construction vehicles in the city. …

Main tourist attractions

Jinan is renowned 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" (老残游记, written 1903–04, published in 1907) as "Every family has spring water, every household has a willow tree". 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. 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" (七十二名泉) are concentrated in the downtown district and flow north to converge in Daming Lake. …

Jinan

Top travelers for this city

Scarcity