Exploring the City of Springs-Jinan

Posted at: 2008-4-11; By lavender0108; Clicks:1116

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The Winter of Jinan

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Many years ago, an article The Winter of Jinan written by Lao She, a celebrated Chinese writer, aroused my frequent thoughts of visiting Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province on China's east coast. Fortunately, I got a chance to visit Jinan with my mother last winter.

It is really a picturesque city.  Weeping willows, the tree of Jinan city, can be seen everywhere. Boasting numerous natural springs amid its beautiful landscape, Jinan is known as the "City of Springs". There are over 100 springs in the city, of which 72 springs are noted. Baotu Spring, which is also called Spurting Spring, the best one among the famous 72 springs, has a reputation as "the First Spring under Heaven". It is the symbol of Jinan. Therefore our first stop was the Baotu Spring Park, which was characterized by the Baotu Spring group, making up by Baotu Spring and more than 20 springs around it.

Roaming the park, crossing a little bridge, we heard the sound of water gurgling. Wondering where the sound came from, three Chinese characters "Bao Tu Quan", which means Baotu Spring, leaped into our eyes. Seeing the Baotu Spring personally, I just understood why it was also called Spurting Spring. The Baotu Spring bubbles up tens of centimeters height in three jets from a clear lake splashing all over, which is very spectacular. It keeps a constant temperature of 18 degreed centigrade all year round. Therefore, the spring water diffuses as vapor in a curly way and hovering like misty clouds due to the lower temperature around in winter. We were intoxicated, no doubt, at such wonderful scenery, as if we were in the fairyland. The spring water is limpid and sweet, which is best for making tea. East of the Baotu Spring is Wanghe pavilion where Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of Qing dynasty once savored tea and praised highly of the spring water. Therefore to taste the tea made with the water of the Baotu Spring has become a must-do for a visitor to Jinan. North of the Baotu Spring lies Luo Yuan Tang Hall, built in Northern Song Dynasty. The Guanlan Pavilion, to the west of the Baotu Spring, stretching into the lake, is a perfect place for spring appreciating. There are more than 20 famous springs around Baotu Spring, such as Jin Xian Spring, Shuyu Spring, Liuxu Spring, and Mapao Spring, making up the Baotu Spring group. Every spring has its interesting story. Visiting the Baotu Spring Park, we not only enjoyed the fascinating springs, but also learned a lot of the history and culture of the springs.

Coming out from the Baotu Spring Park, going northward and crossing two intersections, we reached the Daming Lake Park. The park takes an area of 86 hectares, with the Daming Lake covering 46.5 hectares. Daming Lake is a natural lake in the bustling city, with constant water sources from Pear Spring, Zhuoying Spring, Wangfu Chi Spring, called "conflux of numerous springs". In 13 century, the Italian traveler, Mark Polo marveled here as "what a beautiful landscape of lake and rocks." Though, we couldn’t see the summer scenery of Daming Lake "Green lotus leaves outspread as far as boundless sky; Pink lotus blossoms take from sunshine a new dye", we really enjoyed its winter scenery: tranquil, limpid and with slight wintry sentiment.

Our next destination was Quancheng Square, located in the center of Jinan city, neighborhood of Furong Street. Quancheng Square has a total area of 16.96 hectares, with 780m from east to west and 230m from south to north. It is the landmark of Jinan, in which the Quanbiao Sculpture is the most conspicuous. On arrival, we were immediately attracted by it. It is a blue sculpture of an ancient Chinese character "Quan", which means "spring", soaring above us. Walking eastward, the Lotus-esque Music Fountain came into our eyes. With a big silver lotus in the middle, the Lotus-esque Music Fountain was spurting according to the change of the music. Embellished by the colorful lamplight, it was even more fascinating. We were intoxicated completely.

Beautiful scenery plus delicious food was just the really enjoyment of travel. We couldn’t help going to the most famous food street of Jinan-Furong Street, which deals in selling all kinds of snacks for hundreds of years. We indulged ourselves in eating plenty of Jinan specialties in very low price. Full and satisfying, we were gratified that this ancient food street has been spared from disappearing during the past hundreds of years.

It was really a worthwhile trip. I have made my dream of Jinan come true. 

Tags: Jinan

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