June 2011 – Jinan Shandong

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  Hi ! In June I was once more in China to take part in a project meeting hosted by the local University. Jinan is known as the “City of Springs” because of the large number of natural artesian springs. The majority of the springs, many of which have been historically listed under the “72 Famous Springs” (七十二名泉) are concentrated in the downtown district and flow north to converge in Daming Lake. The Baotu Spring Park is the most popular of the springs in the City of Jinan proper. Besides the Baotu Spring, the park contains several other springs that are listed among the “72 Famous Springs”. “Bào tū” (趵突) means “jumping and leaping” in Chinese. The water in the spring pool can be seen foaming and gushing, looking like a pot of boiling water. The spring was visited by the Emperor Qian Long (1711–1799) of the Qing Dynasty who declared it “the first spring under the heaven” (Chinese: 天下第一泉; pinyin: tiān xià dì yī quán). A tablet with the Emperor’s handwriting “Baotu Spring” has since been erected beside the spring pool. Not far away to the northeast of Baotu Spring Park is the Daming Lake, which, together with Baotu Spring and the Thousand-Buddha Mountain (千佛山) is often regarded as the “Three Greatest Attractions in Jinan”. Other notable parks in the city include the Five Dragon Pool (五龙潭) near the Baotu Spring Park, the Black Tiger Spring (黑虎泉) on the southern city moat, and the Baimai Springs (百脉泉) of Zhangqiu City to the east of Jinan. Historic Buddhist sites are particularly common in Licheng County to the south-east of the city center of Jinan. Jinan has a pool of high-quality labor resources. There are 18 universities and colleges in the city where more than 200,000 students are studying.  Among the 200+ research institutes in the city, 10 are national laboratories. The focus on technology intensive industries has transformed Jinan. The High-tech Industrial Development Zone was founded in 1991: it is located to the east of the city and covers a total planning area of 83 square kilometers that is divided into a central area covering 33 square kilometers, an export processing district of 10 square kilometers, and an eastern extension area of 40 square kilometers. Since its foundation, the Jinan High-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted enterprises as LG, Panasonic, Volvo, and Sanyo. In 2000, it joined the world science and technology association and set up a China-Ukraine High-tech Cooperation Park. The Qilu Software Park became the sister park of Bangalore park of India.