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

1. jinan hongjialou cathedral

Locals queue with jugs at the moat-side spring mouths — a dozen pools line the river wall; fill a bottle, walk the embankment, then the HSR from Jinan West.

1. jinan black tiger spring
2. jinan city markets