Zibo, Shandong, China:
In the middle of Shandong
Province, with an area of 5965 square
kilometers, Zibo is a modern industrial city
and the third largest city in Shandong.
As the birthplace of Qi culture and the
origin of football, Zibo is a national
historical and cultural city with a long
history. It is also a major pottery and
porcelain production city. The splendid past
has left Zibo with a large number of
cultural relics. You will like this city if
you are a fan of culture and history.
Why visit this city:
1. Ancient Capital of Qi State - Zibo was
the capital of the State of Qi (1044
B.C.-221 B.C), the first powerful kingdom in
the Spring and Autumn Period. You can still
feel the glory of this period of China in Qi
Dynasty Memorial Museum.
2. Several National Forest Parks - Not only rich in cultural deposits, Zibo has several national forest parks such as Lushan National Forest Park and Yuanshan National Forest Park for you to get close to the nature.
3. Well-connected with other Cities in Shandong - Located in the central part of Shandong Province, Zibo is adjacent to Linyi in the south, Dongying and Binzhou in the north, Weifang in the east and the provincial capital Jinan in the west. With high speed trains, you can get to other parts of Shandong easily.
Qi
Dynasty Memorial Museum
Having an area of 2,600 square meters, the
Qi State (1044 B.C.-221 B.C) Memorial Museum
is an ancient castle shaped building
reconstructed from the ancient state of Qi
cultural relics. It contains 15 exhibition
halls and over 300 pieces of rare cultural
relics and a lot of documents. All these
relics show the culture of Qi and tell
stories about how this kingdom was formed,
developed and conquered.
Zhoucun Ancient Town in the west of Zibo, known as the “No.1 Village in Shandong” was a prosperous commercial center for handicrafts like silk in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Now these historical shops, silk streets, and traditional Chinese architectures are kept in good condition. It has high tourism value and is praised as "the living ancient commercial architecture museum group in China".
Lushan
National Forest Park
Lushan National Forest Park is located in the south of Zibo. The park has a beautiful environment with waterfalls, springs, and forests. When you come here, you can not only breathe the fresh air, but also go to Tuochan temple, a famous temple for a thousand years, to offer incense and worship the Buddha. You can also climb Guanyun peak, the fourth highest mountain in Shandong, 1108 meters above sea level, to have a broad view.
Liaozhai (also called Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio) is a widely-known book in China written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty. Liaozhai City is a large garden scenic spot themed in the stories of Liaozhai. It is also the hometown of Pu Songling. Here you can imagine being in the strange world of the book or just wonder around the beautiful gardens, have a cup of tea and listen to some Chinese folk music.
