10 Days in Jinan

Baotu Spring's three jets have been written about for some 2,600 years — a Lu lord met the Qi marquis near these waters in 694 BC — and the water holds near 18°C summer and winter. The walk north past the city square to Daming Lake runs about 3 km.

1. jinan baotu spring
2. jinan quancheng square
3. jinan daming lake

Free with reservation, closed Mondays — the Longshan eggshell-black pottery, some 4,000 years old, and the Yinqueshan bamboo slips unearthed in 1972, war manuals buried with their owner over 2,000 years ago.

1. jinan shandong museum

The 285-metre hill keeps Sui-dynasty (581-618) cliff Buddhas; Wulongtan, at the old town's west edge, pools its own spring group in a quiet park of willows and scholars' halls.

1. jinan qianfo mountain
2. jinan wulongtan

Morning in the spring-water lanes, then the merchant quarter — Jinan opened its own commercial port in 1904, a rare self-started move, and the quarter's red-brick banks and warehouses now hold cafes.

1. jinan furong street
2. jinan laoshangbu

An honest neighbour-city label — Taian is a separate city, under twenty minutes south by HSR. The Eighteen Bends' 1,600-odd steps or the cableway reach the 1,545-metre Jade Emperor Peak; the mountain entered the World Heritage list in 1987.

1. taian mount tai

The river runs along the city's north edge — dike-top paths between poplar rows, the silt-heavy water a storey below the streets; kites go up when the wind is right.

1. jinan yellow river bank

An honest neighbour-city label — Zibo, half an hour east by HSR; the Qing merchant streets of Zhoucun run stone facades, old shop signs and shaobing ovens, back by the evening train.

1. zibo zhoucun ancient mall

The Gothic cathedral at Hongjialou rose in grey stone between 1901 and 1905 on the city's north side; a slow café afternoon follows.

1. jinan hongjialou cathedral

Moat-side spring mouths where locals queue with jugs, a slow loop through the square at dusk, an early pack for the morning train.

1. jinan black tiger spring
2. jinan quancheng square

A market breakfast of grilled buns and sweet soy milk, a last old-lane walk, then the HSR from Jinan West — Beijing under two hours, Shanghai about 3.5.

1. jinan city markets