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Located in the mid-western part of Shandong Province, Jinan, also called "the city of springs", is a beautiful city famous for a large number of springs.
Jinan is a large city in terms of economy and population on China's east coast. As the capital of Shandong Province, Jinan has been publicized by the State Council as a famous historical and cultural city. It is among the first batch tourist cities in China. In addition, Jinan has been approved by the state as a sub provincial city and open coastal city. All in all, Jinan, a city full of vigor and vitality, is marching towards modernization.
Geographical Location
Located at latitude 36"40' and longitude 11"70', Jinan has Mount Tai, which is included in the list of "world's natural legacy" on the south, while on its north is the Yellow River, which is called "the mother river of the Chinese people." Lying at the juncture of the Beijing-Shanghai and Qingdao-Jinan railways, Jinan has convenient transport facilities and superior geographical location.
Terrain and Administrative Divisions
Jinan has a total area of 8,177 square kilometers, among which urban area covers 3,258 square kilometers. Jinan is high in the south and low in the north. Low hills, slope plain at the foot of hills and the alluvial plain of the Yellow River lie in a proper order from south to north.
Jinan municipality governs 6 districts (Lixia, Shizhong, Huaiyin, Tianqiao, Licheng, and Changqing), 3 counties (Pingyin, Jiyang, and Shanghe), and one county-level city (Zhangqiu). Under the administration of these are 54 street offices, 64 towns, 28 townships, 417 residents' committees, and 4,677 administrative villages.
Population and Nationality
At the end of 2001, Jinan had a registered population of 5.69 million. The population density is 696 persons per square kilometer. 98.31 per cent of the people who live here are of the Han ethnic group, while 1.62 per cent are of the Hui ethnic groups, and only a very few are of other minority ethnic groups.
Natural Resources
First, land resources. The whole city has land resources of 8,177 square kilometers, including hills of over 3,000 square kilometers. Square and plains of over 5,000 square kilometers. There're six varieties of soil. Second, mineral resources. There are mainly coal, oil, natural gas, iron, and so on. Third, water resources. There is a reserve volume of water resources of 1.59 billion cubic meters, with a recoverable volume of 1.47 billion cubic meters. Fourth, biological resources. The city has 149 families of plants, with 1,175 species and variations besides 211 kinds of terrestrial wild animals.
City Construction
Jinan City attaches great importance and gives priority to urban construction. Continuing centering on the goal of making great changes in urban construction, Jinan City finished a tremendous group of key urban projects. The implementation of azure sky and illumination projects have brought about effective results. Eight lamplight illumination spots, such as those at the Bayi Overpass, Daguanyuan, and the Silver Plaza, form illumination belts throughout the city proper. To improve the urban environment, two cement factories were moved outside the main urban area. All of the one-ton coal-fired boilers and most of the two-ton coal-fired boilers have been eliminated from the city proper; and as many as 1.3 million square meters of central heating area have been added. Within the city, 80 per cent of the fired coal burners can now meet the required environmental-protection standards. Great efforts have been made on the construction of facilities for sewage treatment, forming a network system that connects sewage treatment plants of various sizes and coordinates facilities throughout the city. Two reservoirs, the Qushan and the Yuqinghu, as well as the Tianshan Project to drive water from the Yellow River, have been constructed to supply water for the city proper.
The transformation of the Quancheng Road and Furong Street areas adds glamour to the city. In a bid to improve Jinan's transportation system, some new projects have been started, such as the broadening project of the Jing 10 Road, construction of the southern part of a round-the-city expressway, the transformation project of the eastern No. 2 round-the-city road, the road and bridge construction project of Wei 6 Road, the broadening and transformation of North Gongye Road, and the expansion project at Jinan Airport.
The implementation of landscaping projects, including roads, squares, and environment, have turned Jinan into a Green City. The rate of forested area within Jinan has hit 36.8 per cent, equivalent to 7.3 square kilometers per capita. Moreover, much is being done to improve the ecology of Jinan's environment. In 2001 the State Ministry of Construction chose Jinan as a Fine City of Comprehensive Improvement of Urban Environment.
Economic Development
Jinan develops constantly. The policy of reforming and opening to the world brought new vigor to economic development. What merits special mention is that Jinan fulfilled the Great Changes of the most recent Five Year Plan (1997--2001) with flying colors. While continuing to grow in a fast, sustained, and sound manner, the local economy now features significantly weakened ups and downs. In 2001, the municipality generated 106.62 billion yuan in GDP which, computed at the comparable price, represented an increase of 12.1 per cent over the previous year. Jinan is one of the best-developed regions in Shandong in terms of overall economic strength. It is an industrial city of national importance. Primary industry yielded 9.72 billion yuan in added value, up 4 per cent over the year 2000; secondary industry yielded 44.72 billion yuan, up 9.7 per cent; and tertiary industry produced 52.63 billon yuan, up 15.9 per cent.
Scientific & Education
Jinan City carries out a strategy of developing the city by relying on science and education. In 2001 Jinan scored 200 scientific and technological achievements, among which 71 have reached the international level. Expenditures on scientific research reached 47.9 million yuan, an increase of 18.6 per cent above the previous year. Altogether there were 46 technological centers incorporated by enterprises, among which 8 are state-level and 14 are provincial-level. Furthermore, 39 high tech enterprises were newly approved, an increase of 56 per cent over the previous year.
Education is thriving in Jinan, which ranks among the most advanced cities nationwide in terms of quality-oriented elementary, secondary, and adult education, including 20 institutes of higher learning and 26 polytechnic schools. In 2001, the numbers of students enrolled in regular institutes of higher learning and polytechnic schools hit 125,700 and 49,000 respectively.
Cultural Roots
Jinan is a traditional city featuring modernization. She has a rich cultural tradition as well as vitality featuring modern tints. Jinan's cultural roots, news, publicity, publishing, broadcasting, and television as well as mass cultural activities abound. By the end of 2001, Jinan had 15 various kinds of art troupes, 163 art or culture centers, 8 museums, 14 archives, and 8 public libraries. In 2001, all the year round Jinan published 1.1 billion copies of newspaper, 110 million copies of various magazines, and 400 million copies of books. At the end of the year, across the city, Jinan had 7 broadcast stations, which broadcast a total of 1,760 hours daily. The population coverage rate of radio broadcasting and TV broadcasting has reached 98.96 per cent and 98.16 per cent respectively.
Medical and Health Work
Medical services within Jinan City have developed remarkably. By the end of 2001, Jinan boasted 1,414 institutes of public health, including 125 hospitals with an employment of 35,790 people engaged in various medical fields. In addition, the sanitation, anti-epidemic, and emergency treatment networks are being augmented. 120 Emergency Treatment Line offer professional emergency treatment for patients. At the present time, the overall healthy target level for both the urban and rural people of Jinan ranks in the forefront among the large cities in China.
Sports Culture
In Jinan, there are varied and colorful sports activities. Long distance running, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, wushu, qigong, and swimming are among the most favored sports programs for Jinan people, though soccer probably ranks the first place among the fans. The Shandong Luneng Taishan Soccer Team, located in Jinan, is well known nationwide and attracts dozens of thousands of fans during the match period every year. Furthermore, in Jinan tourists can also join in various sports and entertainment activities, such as tennis, badminton, basketball, and soccer, as well as fishing, hiking, biking, and chess. In the early morning, visitors can also watch or join in groups practicing shadow boxing, Tai Chi, or aerobic dance exercises.
Living
The living of Jinan people is varied and colorful. In 2001, the average per capita disposable income of urban people here was 8,607 yuan, an increase of 12.9 per cent over the previous year; while the average per capita net income of the farming population was 3,215.7 yuan, a 5.5 per cent increase. The total balance of savings of the urban people was 53.46 billion yuan, and the average per capita housing area was 10.7 square meters.
After gaining prosperity, the Jinan people attach great importance to improving their living quality. Traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Nine Festival make the living of Jinan people varied and colorful. In recent years, some western celebrations, such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, and April Fool's Day, have become popular in Jinan, adding even greater variety to local lifestyles. Traditional Chinese cultural programs, such as Luju opera, quyi, and acrobatics, are always welcomed by local residents, while international cultural from every corner of the world is also gaining in favor. Culture hunters can find a wide variety of Chinese, Asian, and Western cuisine, pubs, discos, saloons, jazz bars, and other entertainments, all thriving prosperously in Jinan.
Foreign Relations
Jinan is warm-hearted and hospitable. Up to now, Jinan has secured relations of communication and cooperation in the areas of economy, science, technology, and culture. By visiting Jinan, one can experience Jinan's rapid step of opening to the outside world. Over the past five years, altogether Jinan has received more than 200 groups comprising 344,000 people of various foreign delegations or individuals from 120 countries and regions from all over the world.
One after another, Jinan City has secured sister-city relations with 10 foreign cities, including Wakayama and Yamaguchi in Japan, Coventry in the United Kingdom, Sacramento in the United States, Regina in Canada, the capital area of Papua New Guinea, Suwon in the Republic of Korea, Nizhny Novgrod in Russia, Izmit in Turkey, and Wanda in Finland. International communication and cooperation are increasing year by year. Ten-odd institutes of higher learning in Jinan, as well as ten elementary and secondary schools, have also secured sister-school relations with universities or schools within Jinan's foreign sister-cities. Besides, through the sister-cities, Jinan has held more than 100 news conferences, economic and trade fairs, investment fairs, and fairs for quality products in other countries. |
