Jinan

Jinan (济南 Jǐnán) is the provincial capital of Shandong in North China. Jinan's nicknames include Quancheng, Qizhou, and Luoyi. It is located in the north-west of the province. In the south the city is flanked by the hills of the Tai'an massif, while the Yellow River passes north of the city.

Jinan carries the nickname City of Springs (泉城 quánchéng) because of the many artesian wells that bubble up within the city limits. The water from these springs flows north towards the main landmark, Daming Lake (大明湖 dàmíng hú), and onwards to the Yellow River.

While it doesn't always make the short list of tourists visiting China, there is certainly enough to be done in Jinan to warrant a couple days' stay. It is also a perfect base for exploring the region, notably Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, and Mount Tai, the foremost of the sacred Five Great Mountains known in Taoism.

Jinan is a huge city by world standards, with a population of about 9.2 million as of 2020, but that population makes it only the second most populous city in Shandong.

Understand
Jinan has four well-defined seasons: spring is dry, summer is hot and wet, autumn is crisp and winter is dry and cold with little snow.

History
The Yellow River basin was China's cultural centre during the Neolithic period, and so it comes as no surprise that the area around present day Jinan has been inhabited for over 4,000 years. The oldest finds in the region are from the Longshan culture (roughly 3,000-2,000 BCE), a Late Neolithic culture noted for its advanced black 'egg-shell pottery', sometimes as thin as a millimetre. The name is from Longshan District, an area in Jilin Prefecture where the first relics were found, but the culture seems to have been considerably more widespread than that.

Fast forward past the Shang and Zhou dynasty. After the fall of the Zhou dynasty many independent states arose during a time known as the Spring and Autumn period. Eventually only a handful remained, striving for power during the Warring States period. During this era Jinan lay on the border of the state of Qi and the state of Lu. The great wall of Qi, to the East of Jinan, is a remnant of this age. It is the oldest Great Wall in China, and portions are accessible as open air museum. Lu (鲁) on the other hand was the home state of Confucius, and the character is still used as abbreviation for Shandong.

It was during the Han Dynasty (202BCE-220CE) that Jinan became an important economic and cultural hub, and its role only became more prominent during the following dynasties. Some well known poets, painters and even a Han dynasty ruler all called Jinan their home.

Two events that connected Jinan to the outside world in a new way spurred development and brought Jinan firmly into the modern age. The first was a natural evolution. In 1852 the Yellow River shifted its course, moving to the bed of the Ji river from which Jinan derives its name. The Yellow River, being connected to the Grand Canal, now connected Jinan both to the Imperial capital in the north, and to agricultural areas in the south.

By the end of the 19th century, the German Empire had established a concession in Qingdao on the Shandong coast, and a similar German area was built in what is now the area around the train station. The Germans built a railway connecting Jinan and Qingdao, this however was met with strong local resistance, which eventually led to the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion. Despite all this the railway was opened for traffic in 1904, opening up Jinan to foreign trade.

Get in
Jinan is the hub of traffic for the region and province so you'll likely end up here if heading elsewhere in Shandong, notably Qingdao and Yantai. High speed rail runs on both north-south and east-west lines through Jinan.

By plane
You can fly to Jinan, but the airport is 40 km northeast of downtown. A taxi will take an hour and cost about ¥150. A shuttle bus travels between the airport and downtown hourly from 06:00 to 17:00. It takes just as long and costs ¥20. A subroute of bus 16 also goes to the airport.

You can find flights from most major cities. Shandong Airlines is the major carrier. (Shandong Airlines code-shares with Air China, so your ticket and check-in may well say Air China.)



By train
Jinan is on the major line from Shanghai to Beijing so you can take the train. It's about 2½ hours by fast train from Beijing and 3½ hours from Shanghai. Overnight sleeper trains can also be taken to Beijing.



By bus
It is very easy to get to Jinan with lots of buses running all day and some at night. Be sure to ask which station the bus will arrive in as there are two main ones, the long distance bus station (长途汽车站) and the train station bus station (客运汽车站).



By car
Several expressways connect to Jinan.

Get around
Jinan is a very large city and travelling by public transport is very difficult for non-Chinese speakers, with the exception of the Jinan Metro.

By bus
Buses are ¥1, or ¥2 for air-conditioned. Buses that begin with K or B are supposedly air-conditioned and even if the a/c is off or not working. ¥1 (no a/c) buses are quite rare and only serve spcific lines. You may be charged a discounted price if you use the transit cards, you can get these cards at a bus service center or on Apple Pay.

Most buses with two digits serve the central city. Three digit ones are either coming from or going to the suburbs (may be very far). Bus stops are easily identifiable and bus numbers are written in the Western numbers both on the buses and at the bus stops. The lists of stops for a given route are posted at every bus stop, but in Chinese only, although the beginning and end stations are written in pinyin.



By taxi
Taxis drivers do not speak English, and they will often not be able to read maps or your destination in pinyin. So to be certain to reach your destination, make sure you have it written out in Chinese. Price for shorter trips from ¥7.50. It can be difficult to get a taxi between 07:00-08:00 and 18:00-19:00. Many taxi drivers will try to cheat out-of-towners, foreigners and Chinese alike. Obtaining a taxi is now more difficult than ever due to the drivers using apps to collect fares rather than parking up and waiting; this can lead to extremely long waits for taxis at the taxi rank outside Jinan Train Station as taxis now avoid the taxi rank after dropping off customers in order to collect better paying fares they have identified through apps.

By boat
There is a moat encircling the city centre which flows into and out of Daming Lake. Small boats take groups of passengers on trips around the moat and Daming Lake, allowing them to get on and off at various locations (which can be seen on the map at detailed zoom levels). The boat is no faster than walking and is not a form of regular transportation but is useful and pleasant for tourists spending a day in the city centre.

By metro
As of 2023, the Jinan Metro system has 3 lines which cover the West (line 1) and East (line 3) ends of the city with another line (line 2) connecting them and passing through the north of the city. It's a modern, fast and reliable way to travel. However, there are no lines passing through the city centre; the closest to any of the central tourist or shopping areas is Beiyuan (北园) approximately 1 km north of Daming Lake. The lines do however connect the 3 major railway stations; an extension of line 3 to connect to the airport is due for completion in late 2024. Two more lines are expected by 2025 including one travelling through the south of the city centre.

See
Travellers on a short trip to Jinan are likely to gain most by focusing on the city center, particularly the north-south stretch from Daming Lake through Quancheng Square to Qianfo Mountain, and by adding a trip to the City Government District if time permits. While many museums are free to visit it is always recommended to carry identification such as a passport or risk being refused entry.

City Center (Daming Lake)
Nationally-famous Daming Lake is an icon of Jinan, a AAAAA attraction, and must-see for visitors.



City Center (Quancheng Square)
Enormous Quancheng Square dominates the city center and stands immediately east of the nationally-famous Baotu Spring.















City Center (Qianfo Mountain)
Must-see Qianfo Mountain is the southern boundary of the densely urbanized city and contains the ancient 'thousand' Buddha's in their grottoes. Between Qianfo Mountain and Hero Mountain to the West, there are a number of locations interesting to visitors.







Commercial port
This area, immediately south of Jinan Train Station, contains a number of European colonial buildings, including houses, former banks, and a large post office. Private art galleries, second-hand bookshops and coffee shops can be found on Jingsan Road. After the opening of the Jinan railway station this area was planned & constructed for trade purposes.



Xiaoqing River
The Xiaoqing River is a historic river that runs through the northern suburbs of Jinan and a number of sites are based alongside or near it.



City Government District
A relatively new development at the far eastern end of the city, construction began for the 2008 Beijing Olympics but has continued with the addition of a new museum, art gallery, hotels and impressive government offices.



Jinan City
These sites are outside the city center but within the urban area and can be reached by a relatively short bus or taxi ride.



Changqing
A large district far to the south-west of the city, most sites are in close proximity to each other within Changqing Town but the Qi Great Wall and Guo Family Ancestral Hall are even further to the south-west. There is now a metro from Jinan West railway station to Changqing, but given the distance from the city centre to Jinan West station, this is of limited use to most casual visitors to the city.



Jinan Region
These sites are within one of the administrative districts of Jinan but are far from the city center and mostly difficult or expensive to reach with the current public transport system.



Buy
Jinan is a sprawling city with a huge number of modern shopping centers and older commercial streets. Visitors on a short trip should find almost everything they need within the north-south stretch from Daming Lake through Quancheng Square to Qianfo Mountain.

Central shopping district
The central shopping district is centered around Quancheng Square with the majority of large stores along Quancheng Road a short walk north of the square. Quancheng Road also has access to the southern entrance to Furong Street, a busy food street with many small restaurants and snack traders. There is also a small faux-ancient shopping quarter filled with small cafes and trinket stores at the corner of Heilongquan West and Heilongquan North streets.



Other shopping areas
Other notable shopping areas located around the city include the Jingsi Road shopping district ten minutes walk west of the central shopping district, the Harmony and Liancheng shopping centres at the junction of Jingshi and Latitude 12th Roads, and the Jinan Gaoxing Wanda Plaza immediately east of Jinan International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Specialist shopping
More specialized shopping areas include the electronics markets at the junction of Jiefang and Shanda Roads or the Yingxiongshan Cultural Market.



Eat
Opportunities to eat in Jinan are plentiful; from luxury restaurants to farmers cooking at the road side, you will find an enormous variety of prices and standards. The majority of traditional restaurants may be difficult for non-Chinese speakers who will at the best need to choose by pointing at pictures in a menu; more convenient options for these visitors include canteens, food halls, and restaurants within shopping centers and hotels.

The cuisine of Shandong province (known in Mandarin as LuCai) is one of China's eight great culinary traditions and many restaurants will have dishes to sample, unfortunately a non-Chinese speaker may again face difficulties identifying these. Local dishes will typically contain soup (a particular focus of Jinan-style Shandong cuisine), seafood, maize, peanuts, and breads in place of rice. Jinan is also known for crisp pancake style snacks although these are less commonly sold on the street now.

Many visitors may find the tastes of traditional Shandong dishes unusual if their previous experience of Chinese food is mainly from Cantonese-style restaurants abroad; for those craving something more familiar there are a small number of international food chains with outlets in the city.

Finally, vegetarians, vegans and others with a special diet will face special difficulties in the city; traditional restaurants will have few options in particular for herbivores and those that do exist will often be too light to leave one satisfied or even adulterated unintentionally with meat products. Communicating your special needs will compound the difficulty if you have no Chinese language skills.

Budget
Inexpensive food is abundant in Jinan! Western visitors will find plenty of outlets of McDonalds, KFC and a few Burger Kings if they need something familiar; the national Li XianSheng (Mr. Li) and Dico's fastfood chains also have many outlets serving reasonably priced meals. Competing national bakery chains Aili and Holiland can also be found throughout the city.



Mid-range
There are a huge number of restaurants in this range including a number serving foreign cuisines. Western visitors will find Pizza Hut the most familiar with outlets throughout the city but there also Korean and Vietnamese restaurants available.



Splurge
Restaurants at the luxury hotels are amongst the most expensive in Jinan; they also cater to Western tastes.

Drink
Jinan has few pubs and nightclubs in the Western sense; alcohol is mostly drunk either with dinner in restaurants or around miniature chairs and tables outside at either night time street barbecues or small beer shops which serve light snacks. Lighter drinks can be found at tea houses, bubble tea shops and the growing number of coffee shops.

Coffee
Western travelers will find branches of Starbucks and Costa Coffee at shopping mall locations throughout the city as well as multiple outlets of the established Chinese UBC Coffee chain.



Sleep
There are plenty of places to choose from in the ¥200 range. There is a complex of fancy hotels in the swank SE of the city at the end of Lishan Lu, which are all surprisingly affordable for what they are, considering they have beautiful grounds, five-star services and facilities, etc., for maybe US$70–80. There are also hotels at the transport nexus at the train station, but that's a little removed from the sites.

Stay safe
Jinan is a very safe city, the people of Shandong are famously known as friendly throughout China. The city centre and other commercial areas are safe to walk around until late at night; there will be large numbers of people going about their business until around 22:00 from which time the streets quite quickly empty. While special precautions need not be taken, as with any other city travellers should be sensible, avoid dark streets and walking around alone after the streets become quiet.

Theft and pickpocketing are the most likely crimes a traveller might encounter so one must always keep their bags and purses in a position where they can be monitored while on public transport or in other confined spaces such as markets, and always keep sight of luggage or other belongings, particularly at transport hubs such as Jinan Train Station.

Emergencies
Remember the following three telephone numbers; they are valid in almost every part of China and calls are free:
 * Police: 110
 * Fire alarm: 119
 * Medical care: 120

Connect
Jinan's area code for landlines is 0531, adding a "0531" at the beginning if calling from outside of the city. For international calls add +86, the country code for China.

Jinan has fewer Internet cafés than some other large Chinese cities, but there are some. Most of the bars that cater to the expatriate community and many of the foreign-based fast food chains — Starbucks, KFC, McDonald's and likely others — offer free WiFi. Many hotels also provide free WiFi service. The Great Firewall of China blocks popular web services including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and Yahoo. Some of the websites that are partially blocked include Wikipedia, BlogSpot, WordPress, and Tumblr. To overcome these restrictions, travelers use VPN services that unblock these favorite websites. VPNs also help travelers to access Public Wi-Fi Hotspots securely.

Go next
Jinan is a great base from which to explore Shandong Province as it is the central transport hub.


 * Dezhou - A city neighbouring Jinan to the north-west, home to a famous tomb of a king from the Philippines and a famous chicken dish.
 * Pinyi County - Home to the Guinness World Records approved largest dinosaur museum, the Tianyu Natural Museum.
 * Qingdao - Shandong's second city, home of the internationally known Chinese beer brand, and a former colonial city of the German Empire.
 * Qufu - Host to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Confucius Manor, Temple and Graveyard, plus temples to other pivotal Chinese philosophers.
 * Tai'an- Host to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Tai, a short train ride from Jinan.
 * Zibo - A large city neighbouring Jinan to the east, host to a number of interesting museums.

Further afield, there are a number of major cities easily reached from Jinan due to the city being on the Beijing-Shanghai railway.


 * Beijing
 * Tianjin
 * Shijiazhuang
 * Nanjing
 * Xuzhou