Shandong Tourism

Overview

In the middle of Shandong Province stand the towering mountains, Mt. Tai ranking first in China's five sacred peaks, and with rich culture relics, it has been included in the "world natural and cultural heritage list" by the UNESCO. Besides the scenic spots, with time-honored history, Shangdong enjoys a reputation of being the "hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and the land of ceremony and propriety".

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Shangdong, Confucius Bird

Shangdong enjoys a reputation of being the "hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and the land of ceremony and propriety". In the Chinese history, Shandong has given birth to the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, the founder of the Chinese nation, as well as to a large number of hostorical and cultural celebrities who have still exerted significant influence on the Chinese culture. For instance, Confucius, who was born in Qufu, the capital of Lu State in ancient times, is a great thinker, educator, sage and teacher. He created Confucian doctrines, which have become the pillar of traditional Chinese culture, and exerted great influence in the world. Various schools of thoughts and their exponents, such as Mencius, Mo Zi, Xun Zi, Zhang Zi, Guan Zhong, and Yan Ying, who were very active states of Qi and Lu, created the most splendid chapters in China's pre-Qin ideological and academic history.

Confucius ' theories and teachings would eventually be known simply as Confucianism. His core belief stresses the idea of Ren, which is approximately translated as benevolence, something he felt that society sorely lacked. Confucius traveled extensively, hoping to influence local leaders. On his travels he picked up a large following after his death, thus laying the foundation for the Confucian school of thought, which continues to influence Asia today.

Local Conditions and Customs

With strong local customs, the Shandong people attach great importance to affection for the hometown, friendship and emotional attachment among the family members. At the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival every year, the Shandong people hold various kinds of folk recreational activities, such as lantern and kite shows, mountain and temple fairs, moon appreciation assembly, get-together parties, etc. Tourists are welcome to participate in printing New Year pictures and preparing Jiaozi (dumplings with meat and vegetable stuffing), eat sweet dumplings make of glutinous rice flour, play the dragon lantern, do the Yangko dance, fly kites, go for a walk in the countryside in spring, climb mountains to appreciate chrysanthemums, pay homage to Buddha. If you have interest, you may live at a local family to eat and chat with the family members, experiencing the simple and strong folk customs.

Shandong's regional culture has its own characteristics and varieties. The time-honored traditional arts and crafts, such as kites, woodcut New Year pictures, paper-cuts, cloth toys, gloassware bottle whose interior is painted with landscape, figures or flowers, and Shandong embroideries and brocades and inkslabs, as well as Lu Opera, Liuzi Opera and Shandong Bangzi, martial arts and acrobatics, have been well received by tourists.

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Jinan

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Qingdao

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