As the capital of Shandong Province on China's east coast, Jinan is the political, economic and cultural hub of the procince. Jinan has jurisdiction over five districts (Lixia, Licheng, Huaiyin, Tianqiao and Shizhong), four counties (Changqing, Pingyin, Shanghe and Jiyang) and Zhangqiu City. It covers a total area of 8,227 sq. km with 5.49 million people, 2.54 million of them being urban people. With a warm-temperate continental monsoon climate and clear-cut seasonal changes, Jinan has an average annual temperature of 14℃.
Owing to its long history, Jinan has been made by the State Council as a famous historical and cultural city. It is known as the "City of Springs, for it boasts a number of natural springs amid picturesque scenery, The city tree of Jinan is the willow, and the city flower is the lotus.
Recent years, Jinan has become part of China's open coastal area in 1990, enhancing its pace of opening to the outside world.It is known to all that Jinan is a center of communications of railways, expressways and air transport in Shandong. Jinan International Airport operates more than 30 regular flights to Hongkong, Beijing, Harbin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other cities. There is an increasing number of international students living and studying in Jinan. All in all, Jinan is well connected with other places in Shandong, other cities in China and foreign countries
●Location
●Climate
●History
●Architecture
●Economy
●Tourism
Location
Jinan, located at 36º40'N and 117º00'E, neighbors Mount Tai to the south and the Yellow River in the north. It is located in the northwestern part of Shandong Province. The terrain of this city slopes down from south to north. The Yellow River and the Xiaoqing River are two major water systems in Jinan. Besides, there are two major lakes: Daming Lake and Baiyun Lake. Situated on the east coast of China, Jinan is the capital city and the political, cultural, economic, educational and financial hub of Shandong Province. It covers an area of 8,177 square kilometers with 3,257 square kilometers of urban area.
Climate
Jinan lies between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate with four well-defined seasons.The winter in Jinan City is cold while the summer here is hot. In spring the weather often becomes mainly dry with some rain, which is the best time to visit the Baotu Spring. In many people’s eyes, the autumn is the best season in which to visit Jinan. But it goes without saying that you need to go in winter if you wish see the wonderful snowscape of Daming Lake. The average temperature in July is about 27.6 C (81.7 F) and the highest temperature can exceed 35 C (95 F), during which period half the annual rainfall comes .Therefore, it is advised that visitors avoid visiting Jinan in summer. With the arrival of autumn the temperature drops to a pleasant level. Jinan's winter is cold but not as cold as its neibouring cities.
SICAS Reminder:
The spring and autumn in Jinan are pleasant. In summer, you can wear some T-shirts but remember to protect your skin against the sunshine. It will be the chilly winter time from Dec to Feb every year in Jinan and the temperature can be low to -5C. You need to prepare warm winter clothes and winter boots.
History
This is the Jinan railway station built in 1904
Jinan is regarded as an important birthplace of the civilization in China. Many eminent people were born in Jinan. Shun, a chieftain of the pristine tribe was born and lived around here. Bianque is the founder of the Chinese traditional medicine science. Besides, outstanding scholars such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, Zeng Gong also lived in or visited Jinan in the past. Jinan is the place where Longshan Civilization (4600—4000 years ago) of the late Neolithic Age was found with the basalt as its symbol. At this site, about 200,000 square meters of China’s oldest city relics was discovered. Jinan is a city boasting a history of more than 2600 years. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Jinan Shire was founded. Since the Ming and the Qing dynasties, Jinan has been the capital of Shandong Province. The city of Jinan was set up in July, 1929. There are many historic sites in Jinan, for instance, the Qi Great Wall which is even older than the Qin Great Wall, the stone ancestral temple of Xiaotangshan Guoshi of the Han Dynasty (built in the 1st century B.C), the colorful sculptures at Lingyan Temple of the Song Dynasty( built in the 11th century),etc.
Architecture
For the past five years, Jinan has stressed construction of landmark buildings to promote modernization. A large number of important infrastructure facilities and magnificent buildings have been constructed. As a result, great changes have taken place in the city's appearance and functions.
Some 140 modern skyscrapers now tower over the city. Jinan has been cited as one of the top 10 cities in the country with excellent sanitation three years running. In addition, the Ministry of Construction has conferred on it the titles of "clean city" and "advanced city in comprehensive administration."
This is Jinan Olmpic Sports Center. Covering an area of 6.6 hectares, it can accommodate 60,000 people. It can meet the requirements for the National Games and international individual competition as well. It is designed in line with the idea of “dong he xi liu”, which means the easten stadium is constructed by imitating the shape of lotus,and the western one by imitating the shape of willow.
Economy
Established as a railroad hub, the city has become a major market for agricultural products. Jinan is developing rapidly in textile and clothing industry, oil presses, flour mills, as well as factories producing paper, matches, and cement. In 2008, steel manufacturing was restructured with the formation of the Shandong Iron and Steel Group. Thanks to the focus on technology intensive industries, Jinan has been transformed from a city supported by heavy industry and textiles to a city having more diverse industrial structure. Information technology, transportation tools, bio-engineered products, etc. have played an important role in the area's industry. There are many famous enterprises and groups in Jinan, including Shandong Luneng Group, Jinan Qingqi Motorcycle Co. , LTD, Shandong Xiaoya Group Co. , LTD, etc.
Generally speaking, Jinan has a pool of high-quality labor resources. There are more than 200,000 students studying in 18 universities and colleges here. Ten of the 200+ research institutes in the city boast national laboratories, providing an excellent opportunity for international students to further their studies.
Jinan has developed constantly resent years. The policy of reforming and opening to the world has added new vigor to economic development. While continuing to grow fast, sound, and sustainedly, the local economy now experienced less fructuation. Jinan is among the best-developed regions in Shandong in terms of overall economic strength. It is an industrial city of national importance. In 2010, the overall production of Jinan is over 391 billion yuan, an increase of 12.7% compared to last year. The added value of the first industry in Jinan hits 21.5 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8%, and that of the third industry is more than 205.8 billion, an increase of 14.9%.
In terms of IT, the local government has inplemented a series of policies to boost this industry. A good example is Qilusoft STP (Qilusoft Science and Technology Park).
As one of the earliest four software parks in China, Qilusoft STP is a professional ICT Science and Technology Park centering on Software development, and are involved in various industry categories including service outsourcing, system integration, telecom, IC design and manufacturing, and game & animation,etc. Its round incubator is the largest ring building in the world. Currently there around 570 companies in the STP, with more than 30,000 employees.
It is an important outsourcing base in China. A great number of giant companies listed in Fortune 500 have established branch companies or opened labs here, such as Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Panasonic, NEC and Hitachi. Besides, Qilusoft STP is famous in the country for its special service system. Six platforms have been built to promote the core competitiveness of the park companies. All these favourable conditions will benefit the graduates of universities in Jinan, especially the international students here.
The Qi Lu Software College, one of the campus of Shandong University，is constructed by Jinan Hi-tech Zone and Shandong University, covering a total area of about 267,000 square meters. The Qilu Software College Campus is home to the School of Computer Science and Technology as well as to the University's Software College. The college is open to the international students to pursue their study in areas of IT, engineering, mechanics and so on.
Tourism
It is known to all that Jinan is a great city boasting various scenic spots in China. With beautiful natural landscapes and numerous historical relics, Jinan, the provincial capital honored as "the city of springs". Tai Mountain is undoubtedly crowned as the most famous attraction of Jinan. It is the most revered of China's five sacred mountains, located about 75km southeast of the city. But there are numerous of other unique tourism resources in Jinan, including the Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, the Qi Great Wall, to name just a few. International students coming to study in Jinan will benefit a lot through visiting the marvelous scenic spots and learn much more about the Chinese culture.
●Baotu Spring in the Baotu Spring Park, located in the center of Jinan with an area of 105 hectares, is one of the most famous scenic spots together with Daming Lake and the Thousand-Buddha Mountain. Jinan is famous as the Spring City and Baotu Spring tops those springs.
● Daming Lake is located in the northeast part in the central area of the city. The lake covers an area of 46 hectares. S0me other famous scenic spots are Lixia Gloriette, Huibo Building and Beijing Temple and so on.
● The Thousand-Buddha Mountain was built during the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty, when a number of Buddhas were carved in the cliffs. Famous scenic spots include Xingguochan Temple, Thousand-Buddha Cliff, Lishan Garden, Myriad-Buddha Cave, to name just a few.
●Covering an area of 5.44 hectares, Wulong Pond Park is surrounded by a number of springs including Tianjing, Guwen, Yueya, Xianqing and so on.
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