Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, has long served as political, economic, scientific and technological, cultural, and educational centre fC?r the province. It is because of the numerous springs that Jinan is known as the "city of springs." With the reform and opening-up policy in China, the city has made great changes in recent years. Jinan is one of "China's 40 excellent cities in terms of investment environment" and one of "China's top 50 cities in terms of comprehensive economic capacity. "

Jinan is known as the Spring City in China and the numerous springs make Jinan a famous tourist destination, attracting many tourists from home and abroad.

The city is extending its connections with foreign countries rapidly. It has forged sister-city relationships with 10 cities in nine countries and has established friendly relationships with more than 140 countries and regions. Construction of such infrastructure facilities as Jinan International Airport, the new Jinan Railway Station, Jinan International Container Distribution Centre have provided various convenience for the city's import and export trade.

More than 10 multi-national corporations, including Panasonic, Matsushita, Siemens, Pepsi-Cola and Volvo, have set up successful joint ventures in Jinan. At present, the city has more than 2,500 foreign enterprises in forms of joint ventures, co-operative businesses or foreign- funded enterprises, utilizing about US $ 3 billion in foreign funds.

Jinan boosts many historical sites and cultural relics. Of these points of interest, Darning (Great Light) Lake, Baotu Quan (Jet Spring) and Thousand Buddha Hill are the most famous.

Shandong is well-known for its road construction. It opened its first expressway in December 1993, a 318-kilometre Jinan-Qingdao Expressway linking its political centre of Jinan and its economic centre of Qingdao. Since 1998, the province has made rapid progress in road construction. In the last few years, it has poured more than 60 billion yuan (US $ 7.3 billion) into expressway construction. All the expressways in Shandong are in excellent condition and meet the country's standards. Shandong Province is one of the most economically developed provinces in China. Experts said that since 1998, road construction investments have boosted the local gross domestic product. The expressway network is also considered an economic artery of the province. Statistics show that 90 per cent of Shandong's high-tech zones and industrial parks are located among the expressways. A sound transportation system had helped attract more than 30,000 foreign-funded enterprises by the end of 2003.

Darning (Great Light) Lake

Situated in the northern part of the old city district, the lake covers an area of 46.5 hectares (114.90 acres), which is one of the three major tourist attractions. Before 1949 most of the lake was shoal. Its mud banks had caved in at many places and the paths on the bank were little more than quagmires. Since 1949, the People's Government has had the entire lake dredged. The lake banks have been lined with stone and a road of asphalt and flagstones has been built around the lake. The pavilions, kiosks, terraces, halls and temples that dot the shore or the surrounding hills have all been revamped and repainted. A children's playground, a roller-skating rink and a flower house have been constructed and facilities for boating have been installed. Furthermore, the waters of the Five-Dragon Pool have been diverted to this place to form an artificial spring, whose flow turns into a beautiful cascade on the west bank of the lake. The bank shores are fringed with weeping willow and more than 6.7 hectares (16.55 acres) of the lake have been planted to white lotus, restoring the traditional scene of "lotus on four sides and willow on three; a city with mountion scenery and half of it taken up by a lake ." These vivid verses were written by Liu Fenggao of the Qing Dynasty. In 1955, this place was opened to the public as the Darning Lake Park.

The visitor can enter the park through the south gate, a three-tiered pailou (decorated archway) with red lacquered columns and three golden Chinese characters across the top, meaning Darning Lake. It is an open archway with no doors. Turning left after entering the gate, the visitor finds himself/herself in a shady lane formed by rows of weeping willow trees along the lakeshore. A little further to the west is Xia Yuan (Lasting Garden), a Chinese style compound with centuries-old trees and vines, winding streams, rainbow bridges, pavilions, halls and rockeries, crisscrossed by quiet paths and covered walks. It was built in 1909. Its style is patterned upon Tianyi Ge (The First Hall Under Heaven) , the famous library in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

Jiaxuan Memorial

The ]iaxuan Memorial was built to honour Xin Qiji (1140-1207), a great poet and national hero of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). The memorial is a compound with three courtyards, the style of an ordinary Chinese dwelling house. Across the top of the main entrance is a plaque with six large golden characters meaning Xin Qiji Memorial in Marshal Chen Yi's handwriting. Xin, who was styled Jiaxuan, was a native of Jinan. He was born in 1140 at a time when the Jins had invaded the country and the Northern Song Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. At the age of 21 he raised a small army in Jinan and defeated the invaders several times. Once when the enemy was holding a banquet, he rode single- handed into their camp and captured alive Zhang Anguo, a traitor, to avenge the death of Geng Jing, a Song general. He was not only a patriot and national hero but also a poet and statesman. On display in the memorial are his portrait and writings, as well as important papers by scholars of later generations who had studied the man and his works. In the two wings of the main hall are a chronology of major events in his life, charts and diagrams of his activities, and photographs of his native place, his home and the tomb.

Nanfeng Memorial

The Nanfeng Memorial was constructed to honour Zeng Feng (10191083), Prefect of Jinan in the year 1072, who was a native of Nanfeng , Jiangxi Province, and known under the esteemed title of "Mr Nanfeng." He governed the district well both politically and economically during his short tenure of office. He exterminated local tyrants who oppressed the people and initiated various water conservancy projects, one of which was the diversion of the water of Darning Lake into the Daqing River, a measure that ended years of flooding in the district. Zeng Gong was also a man of Letters, who ranked as one of the eight great writers of the Tang and Song dynasties . Later generations built the memorial to commemorate him and his deeds.

Baotuquan (Jet Spring)

Baotuquan or Jet Spring, is acclaimed not only as the first of the 72 springs in Jinan but also as the "First Spring Under Heaven." Together with its environs, it has been converted into a park of the same name. Baotuquan is located in the southwestern corner of the old city district. It used to cover only o . 26 hectare (0.67 acre) of land and was expanded the grounds to 3.33 hectares (8.22 acres) in 1949. All the old buildings and relics here have been renovated, the springs and ponds have been thoroughly dredged, and the banks lined with stones. Lawns and rockeries have been built and numerous trees and flowers planted. In 1956, the place was formally opened to the public as a popular park. There are four famous springs in Jinan, such as Jet Spring, Black Tiger Spring, Pearl Spring and Five-Dragon Pool.

Li Qingzhao Memorial

Li Qingzhao (1084-c.1151) is recognized as one of the greatest poetesses in ancient China and one of the foremost writers of lyric songs, or ci style poetry. Characterized by melancholy and profound memories of her happy marriage, which was cut short, many of Li's poems demonstrate her carefree and lighthearted spirit with a little touch of sorrow or despair. Her poetic presentation of women's emotions and feelings find no match in the works of either other women or men in the Chinese poetic tradition.

Born into a literary family in 1084, Li was known for her talent in poetry even before her marriage to Zhao Mingcheng (1081-1129), a famous scholar of seal cutting .

Tragedy struck first with the death of her husband from illness, followed by the loss of the family's collection of antiques during episodes of chaotic warfare. In 1151 Li succumbed to illness and despair. Her writing was originally published in seven volumes of poetry and prose, plus six volumes of lyric songs. About 50 poems and 17 lyric songs survived. Also extant are two brief prose works. One is an epilogue that she added to her husband's work Jin Shi Lu (Records on Metal and Stone), and the other is about the study of lyric songs, or ci, poetry written to certain tunes with strict tonal patterns and rhyme schemes, in fixed numbers of lines and words, originating in the Tang Dynasty and fully developed in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Li Qingzhao was a native of Jinan, and her home used to be near the Rinse Jade Spring in Jinan. Her famous work Rinse Jade Collection took its name from Shuyu Quan (Rinse Jade) Spring. To commemorate her, Li Qingzhao Memorial has been built north of the Spring-a typical Chinese style compound with a main hall, side buildings, pavilions, studies, winding galleries and service quarters. It is not only a memorial but also a garden within a garden. The courtyard is planted to pines, bamboo and banana, ornamented with grotesque rocks and crisscrossed with springs. On show are portraits of the poetess, specimens of her works, and tributes often in poetic form from celebrated writers of later generations.

Pavilion for Watching the Billows

The Pavilion for Watching the Billows, a square building with grey-tiles and red columns was built in 1461 of the Ming Dynasty. Inside is a stone table and some stone stools. The pavilion faces the pond on two sides, where its steps lead into the water. From here, the tourist can watch leisurely the gushing of the fountains in the centre of the pond. A stone tablet with three large characters meaning "jet spring" stands in the water in front of the pavilion. On the wall behind it are two more tablets; one inscribed, "First Spring" and the other "Watching the Billows. " Pavilion for Watching Cranes

The Pavilion for Watching Cranes is now turned into a teahouse. Here the visitor usually stops for a short rest and sips a cup of tea made from the water of the "First Spring under Heaven" as s/he enjoys the view of Jet Spring through the windows.

Hall of High Aspiration

Hall of High Aspiration is also known as Jinxianshuyuan (Gold Thread Academy) . In the past, it used to be the place where feudal officials and private scholars stored their books and gave lectures. Jinxianquan or Gold Thread Spring is located in the northeastern corner of Hall of High Aspiration. It used to be a pond about 13.3 metres long and 6.65 metres wide. Two fountains bubbling up with a varying force caused a wavy current to appear upon the surface. In the sunlight this resembles a piece of gold thread. Later, when the pond was rebuilt, the bottom was damaged and the "gold thread" vanished. But by some freak of nature, the "thread" reappeared in another pond, Liuxuquan (Catkin Spring) , southeast of Jinxianquan ~ ~ JR, and therefore the tablet with the inscription "Gold Thread Spring" was moved over to Liuxuquan, which has become the new Gold Thread Spring.