Mount Tai, Jinan & Qufu

Shandong's classic tourism brand: the grandeur of Mount Tai, Jinan's springs and Qufu, Confucius's hometown with the "Three Confucian Sites."

"One Mountain, One Water, One Sage" is a classic tourism route long promoted by Shandong: the mountain is Mount Tai, the water is Jinan's springs (or the Yellow River or Weishan Lake), and the sage is Confucius. Jinan has Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, Black Tiger Spring and Thousand Buddha Mountain, and the line "every home by a spring, every door with weeping willows" on Qushuiting Street is a hallmark of the old town; Mount Tai is the foremost of the Five Great Mountains and a dual World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, with the Eighteen Bends from Red Gate to South Heavenly Gate, the sunrise at Jade Emperor Peak and Dai Temple at the core of a visit, and climbing at night for the sunrise is popular with young people; the Confucius Temple, Confucius Mansion and Confucius Forest in Qufu, the "Three Confucian Sites," are a World Heritage Site, and you can also see the Nishan Sacred Land. A classic itinerary takes 3–4 days: 1 day in Jinan – 1–2 days at Mount Tai in Tai'an – 1 day in Qufu. The Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway connects Jinan West, Tai'an and Qufu East, with travel between stations under half an hour. Mount Tai gets enormous crowds on holidays, so avoid peak times and reserve tickets. The route can also be extended to Zibo to try barbecue and experience Qi culture and ceramics and glassware, or to Mount Yimeng in Linyi for revolutionary history and mountain scenery; with convenient transport and a moderate pace, it suits family study trips and first-time visitors to Shandong.

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Itineraries