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Jinan

[jee-nahn]

Jinan or Tsinan, city (1994 est. pop. 1,659,900), capital of Shandong prov., E China. It lies 3 mi (4.8 km) S of the Huang He (Yellow River) and is a railroad junction on the network linking Shanghai and Nanjing with Tianjin; it has connections to Qingdao and Yantai. Jinan is an industrial center with textile, flour, paper, and iron and steel mills, food-processing establishments, machine shops, and plants making trucks, agricultural machinery, chemicals, and fertilizer. An ancient walled city, Jinan was a provincial center as early as the 12th cent. It fell to the Communists in Sept., 1948, with the loss of some 75,000 Nationalist troops. Jinan is the seat of Shandong Univ. and other institutions of higher learning. The name sometimes appears as Chi-nan.

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

Jinan

or Chi-nan conventional Tsinan

City (pop., 2003 est.: 2,346,000), capital of Shandong province, eastern China. It dates to the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) and earlier and has been an administrative centre since the 8th century BC. Nearby Mount Tai was one of China's greatest holy mountains; many Buddhist cave temples were built in the hills south of the city in the 4th–7th century AD. It was made the capital of Shandong under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Opened to foreign commerce in 1904, it developed further after becoming a railroad junction in 1912. It is now a major administrative and industrial centre and Shandong's chief cultural centre, with agricultural, medical, and engineering colleges and a large university (1926).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Jinan

Jinan (in some literatures the pinyin without tones is given as Ji'nan, to disambiguate from a possible misreading as Jin'an is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Shandong province, People's Republic of China, it is also called "The Springs City". Located in western Shandong, 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.

Administration

The sub-provincial city of Jinan administers 10 county-level divisions, including 6 districts, 1 county-level city and 3 counties.

Licheng District (历城区)
Lixia District (历下区)
Shizhong District (市中区)
Huaiying District (槐荫区)
Tianqiao District (天桥区)
Changqing District (长清区)
Zhangqiu City (章丘市)
Pingyin County (平阴县)
Jiyang County (济阳县)
Shanghe County (商河县)

These are further divided into 146 township-level divisions, including 65 towns, 27 townships and 54 subdistricts.

Geography and climate

Jinan is located in the north-western part of Shandong province at 36° 40′ northern latitude and 116° 57′ east of Greenwich. Because its location falls within the warm temperate continental monsoon climate zone, Jinan has four distinct seasons. The city is dry and rainless in spring, hot and rainy in summer, crisp in autumn and dry and cold in winter. The average annual temperature is 14.2°C, and the annual rainfall is around 675 mm. January is the coldest and driest month, the monthly averages are -5.4°C for the daily minimum temperature, 3.6°C for the daily maximum temperature, and 6.6 mm for the rainfall. July is the warmest and wettest month, the corresponding numbers are 23.5°C, 32.6°C, and 190.9 mm (Source: The Global Historical Climatology Network, version 2 beta, covering 874 months between 1916 and 1990).

History

Jinan has been inhabited since more than 4000 years ago. The Chengziya (城子崖) in the eastern Zhangqiu City is where the Longshan Culture was first discovered in 1928. One of the unique features of Longshan Culture is the skill of pottery making, demonstrated in recovered black pottery relics - some of which are as thin as egg shells.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (722 B.C. - 481 B.C.) and Warring States Period (475 B.C - 221 B.C.), Jinan was split between two states - the state of Lu in the west and the state of Qi in the east. In 685 B.C., the state of Qi started to build the Great Wall of Qi (齐长城) across Changqing county, and the wall still remains today and is open to tourists. Bian Que (扁鹊) From present-day Changqing County came the earliest Chinese doctor to appear in historical documents and the most famous one of his time. Zou Yan (邹衍, 305 B.C - 240 B.C) developed the concepts of Yin-Yang and Five Elements (阴阳五行说).

In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.), Jinan was the capital of Kingdom of Jibei (济北国) and started to become the cultural and economic hub of the region. In 1995 and 1996, archaeologists from Shandong University excavated the tomb of Han Dynasty in Shuangru Mountain (双乳山汉墓) where the last king of Jibei Liu Kuan (刘宽) was buried. More than 2000 relics such as jade swords, jade masks, jade pillows have been recovered within the 1,500 square meter excavation site, showing off the wealth of the city during the period. Cao cao (曹操, 155 A.D - 220 A.D) was an official of Jinan before he became the de facto ruler of Han Dynasty. His son overthrew the last emperor of Han and founded the Wei Kingdom(220 A.D - 265 A.D) of the Three Kingdoms Period.

Since the 5th century, Buddhism has flourished in Jinan. The Langgong Temple (朗公寺) in the southern county of Licheng was one of the most important temples in northern China at that time. The same period witnessed extensive building of Buddhist architectures in the southern counties of Licheng and Changqing such as Lingyan Temple (灵岩寺) and Thousand-buddha Cliff (千佛崖).

Jinan remained the cultural center of the region during the Song Dynasty (960 A.D - 1279 A.D), and the two most important poets of Southern Song were both born in Jinan: Xin Qiji (辛弃疾, 1140 A.D - 1207 A.D ), the famous patriotic poet who led the peasant rebellion against the Jurchen invasion in 1161 A.D. and Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084 A.D - 1151 A.D), the most famous female poet in Chinese history. Both of the poets lived in the same period when the Song Dynasty suffered major military setbacks against Jurchen invasion and lost almost half of the territories. Although well-known for their patriotism, the poets failed to persuade the government of Song Dynasty to stand up to the northern Jurchen Kingdom and recover the lost territories including Jinan. After retreating to southern China and realizing the incapabilities of their government, the poets started to write extensively and passionately about their hope of a stronger nation and recovery of lost lands. Many of their poems appeared in Chinese textbooks of later dynasties as well as the textbooks used today.

During the Jurchen and Mongolian occupation, culture in Jinan continued to thrive. The most famous artist of Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu (赵孟頫, 1254 A.D - 1322 A.D) was appointed as the governor of Jinan in 1293 A.D and spent three years in the city. Among the extraodinary art works he finished during his stay in Jinan, the best painting is "Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains" (鹊华秋色). Geographer Yu Qin (于钦, 1284 A.D - 1333 A.D) was also an official of Jinan and finished the famous geography book Qi Cheng (齐乘) in Jinan.

Economy

Jinan has a pool of high-quality labor resources. There are 18 universities and colleges in the city where more than 200,000 students are studying. Among the 200+ research institutes in the city, 10 are national laboratories.

The focus on technology intensive industries has transformed Jinan from a city supported by heavy industry and textiles to a city of more complex industrial structures. IT, transportation tools, home appliances, bio-engineered products, etc. have become the new pillars of industry. Jinan's IT-related economic output ranks No.4 in China in 2004.

Industrial zones include:

Jinan High-tech Industrial Zone
Liaocheng Economic Development Zone

Transportation

Railways

The two major railways going through Jinan are the North-South Jinghu Railway from Beijing to Shanghai and the West-East Jiaoji Railway from Jinan to Qingdao. By the Jinghu Railway, cities that can be reached within the province include Dezhou, Tai'an, Jining and Zaozhuang; by the Jiaoji Railway, cities that can be reached within the province include Zibo, Qingdao and Weifang

Expressways

Major expressways include China National Highway 104, China National Highway 220 and China National Highway 309. The Jinan Coach Terminus has the largest passenger flow in China.

Airport

From Jinan Airport, one can fly to every Chinese provincial capital (except for Lhasa) as well as international cities including Seoul and Singapore. Recently,Jinan has built a brand new airport which can send passengers to most big cities in East asia.

Attractions

Jinan is famous across China for its springs and lakes. Jinan was also the historical center of Buddhist culture for the whole province and invaluable historic sites are left behind in its southern counties.

Spring and lake parks

Jinan is known as the "Spring City" because of the large number of springs in the city. The majority of springs, known historically as the "72 Famous Springs" are concentrated in the downtown district and flow north to converge in Daming Lake. High on the must-see list is the Baotu Spring Park, where the Baotu Spring and many other smaller springs nearby have been a major attraction for tourists for many years.

"Baotu" 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 and the Emperor complimented the spring as "No.1 under the Heaven"(天下第一泉). A tablet with the Emperor's handwriting "Baotu Spring" has since been erected beside the spring pool and the fame of Baotu Spring has spread across the country.

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) used to be considered the "Three Greatest Attractions in Jinan" until other historic sites outside of the city started to be developed for tourism. However, since these sites and parks started to be developed in counties outside the city, the traditional attractions within the city have been losing their allure for tourists. The springs are particularly overrated. Having mostly dried up long ago, a pond with some bubbles in the middle fails to make an impression as a major tourist attraction.

Other notable parks include the Five Dragon Pool (五龙潭) near the Baotu Spring Park, the Black Tiger Springs (黑虎泉) beside the city moat, and the Baimai Springs (百脉泉) of eastern Zhangqiu City.

Buddhist sites

Licheng County to the south east of the city of Jinan boasts a great richness in historic Buddhist sites envied by the rest of Shandong Province. The Four Gates Pagoda (四门塔), built in 661 A.D., is the oldest existing one-story stone tower in China. Inside the tower sit four Buddhist statues of the 6th century, and the Cypress (九顶松) beside the tower dates back more than 1000 years ago. Below the hill on which tower is built are the remnants of the Shentong Temple (神通寺) founded in the 4th century but destroyed in the wars of later dynasties. The tomb towers of monks in the temple which date from different historic periods display extraodinary 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 (四大名刹) of the Tang Dynasty. The temple was founded during the Jin Dynasty and it reached its heyday in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. 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 had 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" (海内第一名塑) by the great scholar and journalist Liang Qichao (1873 A.D - 1929 A.D). Buddhist architectures within the temple such as towers and tomb towers 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 1982 and right now it has 8 exhibition halls - "Treasures of Shandong Province", "Stone Sculptures", "Warship of 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 ranks No.7 for number of relics in museums across China.

The Jinan Municipal Museum is to the west of Thousand-Buddha Mountain, in the north of the city. Even though dwarfed by the provincial museum, the Jinan Municipal Museum still has a collection of more than 20,000 relics. Most relics on display in the municipal museum were recovered in the city.

The Shandong Provincial Library in the eastern High-tech Park is the finest in the province and 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 beside the famous 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 Quancheng Square and Quancheng Road. Quancheng 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 is beside the 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. Quancheng Square is almost always chosen as the open-air stage for large-scale public entertainment in Jinan.

Quancheng Road was rebuilt at the same time that the Quancheng Square was created. The government's intention was to create a modern business district and yet preserve the traditional Chinese culture. Therefore one may find both newly-built shopping malls with traditional Chinese styles and modern western skyscrapers. Quancheng Bookstore--the largest bookstore of the city--is located here. Walmart also can be found, near the western entrance to Quancheng Road.

Education

Universities and colleges

Shandong University (山东大学)
Shandong Normal University (山东师范大学)
JianZhu University (山东建筑大学)
Shandong Jiaotong University (山东交通学院)
Shandong Economic University (山东经济学院)
Shandong University of Finance (山东财政学院)
Shandong University of Chinese Traditional Medicine (山东中医药大学)
Shandong College of Arts (山东艺术学院)
Shandong College of Arts and Design (山东工艺美术学院)
Shandong Physical Education Institute (山东体育学院)
University of Jinan (济南大学)
Jinan Railway Polytechnic (济南铁道职业技术学院)

Provincial key high schools

Senior High School Attached to Shandong Normal University (山东师范大学附属中学)
Shandong Experimental High School (山东省实验中学)
Jinan Foreign Language School (济南市外国语学校)

Sports

In Jinan, the Shandong Luneng Football Club is very well known. They currently play at the highest tier of Chinese football in the Chinese Super League. Shandong Luneng Football Club is one of the 4 clubs which have been playing in Chinese top football league for all the 15 seasons since the league turned professional in 1994. They got 7 titles in the 15 seasons: Top League Champions (1999, 2006), FA Cups (1995, 1999, 2004, 2006) and CSL Cup (2004).

There is also a basketball team called Shandong Jinsidun. The same as football team Shandong Jinsidun has been playing in Chinese top basketball league for all the 13 seasons since the league turned professional in 1995. Their best season is 1997-1998 in which they got the 3rd place.