Jining City,situated in the southwest of Shandong Province,administers 12 districts,counties and cities.It covers an area of 11,000 sq km with a population of 7.56 million.Most of the terrains in Jining are plain except some mountains in the east.Jining enjoys convenient transportations.The Grand Canal flows through the city from north to south.The Beijing-Shanghai Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway go through the city from north to south,Yanzhou-Shijiu Railway and the Jining-Xinxiang Railway through the city from east to west.The No.104 National Highway is crossed with No.327 National Highway here.Jining Airport has flights available to Beijing,Jinan,Qingdao,Shanghai and Guangzhou.Jining also boasts well-equipped post and communications which provide IDD to the citizens.
With a pleasant climate,Jining shares four distinct seasons with an annual average temperature of 13.3-14.1 Centigrade.
Jining is abundant in wheat,corn,grain,cotton,peanuts,fruits,stockbreeding and fishing products.The widely-spred mineral resources have large reserves and varieties,including coal,iron,copper,marble,granite and so on.Jining is one of the eight largest coal bases in China,with a proved reserve of over 20 billion tons.Jining also has a reserve of over 13 million tons of rare earth.It is one of the areas rich in freshwater in Shandong Province.Weishan Lake,one of the ten largest freshwater-lakes in China,has a reserve of 3 billion cubic meters and covers an area of 1,260 sq km,connecting the Yellow River in the north and the Yangtze River in the south.Jining is also rich in underground water.The total freshwater in Jining accounts for one sixth of that of Shandong Province.
Jining has a history of seven thousand years’ civilization.During the Spring and Autumn Period,the five greatest saints,namely,Confucius,Mencius,Yanzi,Zengzi,Kongji and the earliest ancestors of Chinese,Fuxi,Nvwa,Huang Di,Shao Hao,were all born in Jining.In the city’s territory there are seven cultural relics under the first-class state protection,50 under the provincial protection,and hundreds under the municipal protection.Among them,Confucius Temple,Confucius Mansion and Confucius Cemetery have been listed by UNESCO as the World Cultural Heritage.These splendid Chinese traditional cultures have drawn numerous Chinese both from home and abroad to come here paying respects to the ancestors.
Jining City has been known as the Hometown of Confucius and Little Suzhou in north China.Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy,the tourism industry has been developing step by step and becomes very prosperous currently.It receives more and more tourists and brings about great incomes.The six elements of traveling,i.e.cuisine,lodging,shopping,entertainment,leisure and tour,have been improved greatly.Now,thanks to the progress made in tourism industry,the tourists’ needs can be met basically.
By the end of 1997,Jining City has possessed seven “star” hotels,among which there are one Three-Star hotel,six Two-Star hotels,and 20 foreign-tourists-oriented restaurants,which supply 4,000 high standard beds as well as enormous entertainment facilities.
In recent years,over 40 tourism zones and sites have been reconstructed and more than 270 tourism places have been opened to the public,such as the Six-Art City,the Steles Park of Confucius ’ Analects,the Water-Watching Park,Jining Museum and so on.A high-standard holiday resort is under construction and a basket of tourism projects and facilities are under preparation for building.A tourism zone,with Qufu City,Zoucheng City and Liangshan County at the core,has taken shape.