Shandong is a coastal

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

East China East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, ...

. Shandong has played a major role in

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. It has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center for

Taoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. Shandong's

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

is the most revered mountain of Taoism and a site with one of the longest histories of continuous religious worship in the world. The

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temples in the mountains south of the provincial capital of

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of

Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...

was the birthplace of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

, and later became the center of Confucianism. Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient and modern north–south and east–west trading routes has helped establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship beginning in the late 19th century, Shandong has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. Home to over 100 million inhabitants, Shandong is the world's sixth-most populous

subnational entity Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

, and China's second-most populous province. The economy of Shandong is China's third-largest provincial economy with a

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

of (US$1.3 trillion) in 2021, equivalent to the GDP of Mexico. If considered among sovereign states, Shandong would rank as the 15th-largest economy and the 15th-most populous . Its GDP per capita is around the national average. Shandong is one of China's leading provinces in education and research. It has 153 higher education institutions, ranking second in East China after

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

and fourth among all Chinese first-level divisions after Jiangsu,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

and

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

. , the

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-sci ...

ranked two major cities in Shandong (Jinan #31 and

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

#38) in the global top 40 cities by scientific research output.

Etymology

Shandong's name literally means 'east of the mountains', from and . The name refers to the province's location to the east of the

Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of ; its principal peak is ...

. A common nickname for Shandong is Qilu (), from the states of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

. Whereas Qi was a major political power, Lu played only a minor political role but became renowned as the home of

, and its cultural influence came to eclipse that of Qi. The cultural legacy of Lu is reflected in the province's official abbreviation of .

History

Ancient history

With its location on the eastern edge of the

North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...

, Shandong was home to a succession of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

cultures for millennia, including the Houli (), Beixin (),

Dawenkou The Dawenkou culture was a Chinese Neolithic culture primarily located in the eastern province of Shandong, but also appearing in Anhui, Henan and Jiangsu. The culture existed from 4300 to 2600 BC, and co-existed with the Yangshao culture. Turquo ...

(), Longshan (), and

Yueshi culture The Yueshi culture () was an archaeological culture in the Shandong region of eastern China, dated from 1900 to 1500 BC. It spanned the period from the Late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age. In the Shandong area, it followed the Longshan cultur ...

s (). The

Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dyn ...

and Zhou dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was inhabited by

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Jap ...

peoples, who were considered barbarians by the inhabitants of the Central Plain. Following the by the

state of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a ancient Chinese state, regional state of the Zhou dynasty in History of China#Ancient China, ancient China, whose rulers held Zhou dynasty nobility, titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong (title), Go ...

in 567 BC, the Dongyi gradually became

sinicized Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture, particularly the language, ...

. During the Spring and Autumn and

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

s, power was accumulated by regional states; Shandong was home to the state of Qi based in Linzi, and the

state of Lu Lu (; 249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji () that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The f ...

based in

. Lu is famous for being the home of

; however, it was comparatively small, eventually being annexed by the neighboring

state of Chu Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an Ancient Chinese states, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted ...

to its south. Meanwhile, Qi was a significant power throughout the entire period, and ruled cities including Linzi,

Jimo Jimo District (), formerly Jimo City (), is a District of Qingdao, Shandong. Location Jimo is located in the southwest of the Shandong Peninsula, bordered by the Yellow Sea on the east and Mount Lao on the south. Climate Jimo has a modera ...

(near modern

) and Ju.

Imperial history

The

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

conquered Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BC. The

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

that followed created several commanderies supervised by two regions () in what is now modern Shandong: Qingzhou () in the north and Yanzhou () in the south. During the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period, Shandong was part of the northern kingdom of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

, which ruled over northern China. After the Three Kingdoms period, a brief period of unity under the

Western Jin dynasty Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

gave way to invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun. Over the next century or so, Shandong changed hands several times, falling to the

Later Zhao Zhao, briefly known officially as Wei (衛) in 350 AD, known in historiography as the Later Zhao (; 319–351) or Shi Zhao (石趙), was a dynasty of China ruled by the Shi family of Jie ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Among the ...

, then

Former Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Former Yan (; 337–370), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Murong clan of the Xianbei during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. From Liaoning, the Former Yan later conquered and ruled over Hebei, Shaanxi, ...

, then

Former Qin Qin, known as the Former Qin and Fu Qin (苻秦) in historiography, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China ruled by the Fu (Pu) clan of the Di (Five Barbarians), Di peoples during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Founded in the wake of ...

, then

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. The prefix "Later" to distinguish them from the Former Yan before them and othe ...

, then

Southern Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Southern Yan (; 398–410), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Murong clan of the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. Its founder Murong De (Emperor Xianwu) was a son of Murong Huang (Emperor ...

, then the

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...

, and finally the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an imperial dynasty of Chi ...

, the first of the Northern dynasties during the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

period. Shandong stayed with the Northern dynasties for the rest of this period. In 412 AD, the Chinese

monk

Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...

landed at Laoshan, on the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to

Qingzhou Qingzhou () Wade–Giles: Tsing-chou, sometimes written as Ching-chow-fu, formerly Yidu County (Yitu) (), is a county-level city, which is located in the west of the prefecture-level city of Weifang, in the central part of Shandong Province, Chin ...

to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought back from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

reestablished unity in 589, and the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907) presided over the next golden age of China. For the earlier part of this period, Shandong was ruled as part of Henan Circuit, one of the circuits (a political division). Later on, China splintered into warlord factions, resulting in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Shandong was part of the Five Dynasties, all based in the north. The

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

reunified China in the late tenth century. The classic novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the e ...

'' was based on folk tales of outlaw bands active in Shandong during the Song dynasty. In 1996, the discovery of over two hundred buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

find. The statues included early examples of painted figures and are thought to have been buried due to Emperor Huizong's repression of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(he favored

). The Song dynasty was forced to cede northern China to the

Jurchen Jin dynasty Jurchen may refer to: * Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century ** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty ** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...

in 1142. Shandong was administered by Jin as Shandong East Circuit and Shandong West Circuit – the first use of its current name.

Early modern history

The modern province of Shandong was created by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, where it had a more expansive territory, including the agricultural part of

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

. After the

Ming–Qing Transition The transition from Ming to Qing (or simply the Ming-Qing transition) or the Manchu conquest of China from 1618 to 1683 saw the transition between two major dynasties in Chinese history. It was a decades-long conflict between the emerging Qing ...

in 1644, Shandong acquired (more or less) its current borders. On 25 July 1668, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 and an

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

just northeast of

Linyi Linyi ( zh, s=临沂 , t=臨沂 , p=Línyí) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the eas ...

devastated Shandong, and killed between 43,000 and 50,000 people. During the 19th century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence; Shandong, a coastal province under the dukedom of Xiong, was significantly affected.

was

leased A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the Lessor (leasing), ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are l ...

to Germany in 1897 and

Weihai Weihai ( zh, t=, p=Wēihǎi), formerly Weihaiwei ( zh, s=, p=Wēihǎiwèi, l=Mighty Sea Fort, first=t), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport city in the easternmost Shandong province of China. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow ...

to Britain in 1898. As a result of foreign pressure from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, which had annexed

Outer Manchuria Outer Manchuria, sometimes called Russian Manchuria, refers to a region in Northeast Asia that is now part of the Russian Far East but historically formed part of Manchuria (until the mid-19th century). While Manchuria now more normatively refer ...

by 1860, the Qing encouraged settlement of Shandong people to what remained of

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. Shandong was one of the first places where the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

broke out, and became one of the centers of the uprising. In 1899, Qing general

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

was appointed governor of the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for three years. Street market Shandong

Germany took control of the peninsula in 1898, leasing

Jiaozhou Bay Jiaozhou Bay (; ; ) is a bay located in the prefecture-level city of Qingdao (Tsingtau), Shandong Province, China. The bay has historically been romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English and Kiautschou in German. Geography ...

and its port of Qingdao under threat of force. Development was a high priority for the Germans: over 200 million marks were invested in world-class

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

facilities including berths, heavy machinery, rail yards, and a floating dry dock. Private enterprises worked across the Shandong Province, opening mines, banks, factories, and rail lines. As a consequence of the First World War, Japan seized German holdings in

and Shandong. The 1919

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

transferred ownership to Japan instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over the area. Popular dissatisfaction with this outcome, referred to as the Shandong Problem, led to the vehement student protests in the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

. Among the reservations to the Treaty that the

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate charged with leading Foreign policy of the United States, foreign-policy legi ...

approved was "to give Shantung to China", the treaty with reservations was not approved. Finally, Shandong reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after the United States' mediation during the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference (or the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament) was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, D.C., from November 12, 1921, to February 6, 1922. It was conducted out ...

followed in 1930. Contemporary map of Tsingtau and the Shandong Peninsula

Shandong's return of control fell into the

Warlord Era The Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1928, when control of the country was divided between rival Warlord, military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions. It began after the de ...

of the Republic of China. Shandong was handed over to the

Zhili clique The Zhili clique () was a military faction that split from the Republic of China's Beiyang Army during the country's Warlord Era. It was named for Zhili Province (modern-day Hebei), which was the clique's base of power. At its height, it also ...

of warlords, but after the

Second Zhili–Fengtian War The Second Zhili–Fengtian War (Second Chihli-Fengtien War; ) of 1924 was a conflict between the Japanese-backed Fengtian clique based in Manchuria, and the more liberal Zhili clique controlling Beijing and backed by Anglo-American business inte ...

of 1924, the northeast China-based

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was the faction that supported warlord Zhang Zuolin during Republic of China (1912–1949), China's Warlord Era. It took its name from Fengtian Province, which served as its original base of support. However, the clique quic ...

took over. In April 1925, the Fengtian clique installed the warlord

Zhang Zongchang Zhang Zongchang (; also romanized as Chang Tsung-chang; 1881 – 3 September 1932), courtesy name Xiaokun, was a Chinese warlord who ruled Shandong from 1925 to 1928. A member of the Fengtian clique, Zhang was notorious for his brutal and ruthl ...

, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General", as military governor of Shandong Province. ''Time'' dubbed him China's "basest warlord". He ruled over the province until 1928 when he was ousted in the wake of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

. He was succeeded by Han Fuju, who was loyal to the warlord

Feng Yuxiang Feng Yuxiang (; ; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a Chinese warlord and later general in the National Revolutionary Army. He served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. A ...

but later switched his allegiance to the Nanjing government headed by Chiang Kai-shek. Han Fuju also ousted the warlord

Liu Zhennian Liu Zhennian (; 1898 in Nangong, Hebei, China – 13 May 1935) was a Chinese military commander during the Warlord Era and Nanjing decade in the history of the Republic of China. Liu graduated from the Baoding Military Academy and served as a r ...

, nicknamed the "King of Shandong East", who ruled eastern Shandong Province, hence unifying the province under his rule. In 1937 Japan began its invasion of

China proper China proper, also called Inner China, are terms used primarily in the West in reference to the traditional "core" regions of China centered in the southeast. The term was first used by Westerners during the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dyn ...

in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, which would eventually become part of the Pacific theater of the Second World War. Han Fuju was made Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area and put in charge of defending the lower Yellow River valley. However, he abandoned his base in Jinan when Japanese troops crossed the Yellow River. He was executed for not following orders shortly thereafter. During the Japanese occupation, with resistance continuing in the countryside, Shandong was one of the provinces where the scorched-earth Three Alls policy ("kill all", "burn all", and "loot all") was implemented by Japanese general

Yasuji Okamura was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army from November 1944 to the end of World War II, and appointed to surrender all Japanese forces involved in the China Burma India theater. He was trie ...

. This lasted until Japan's surrender in 1945, killing millions of people in Shandong and Northern China. By 1945, communist

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

forces already held some parts of Shandong. Over the next four years of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, they expanded their holdings, eventually driving the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(government of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

) out of Shandong to the island of Taiwan by June 1949, including a noble of the Xiong () family who held the governorship, previously a dukedom during the imperial era, and an ancient viscountcy originating in Chu. The

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

was proclaimed in October of that year. Under the new government, parts of western Shandong were initially given to the short-lived

Pingyuan Province Pingyuan () was a former province of the People's Republic of China that existed between 1949 and 1952. Its capital was Xinxiang, now in Henan province. History Pingyuan Province was established on August 20, 1949, comprising adjoining prefectu ...

, but this did not last. Shandong also acquired the

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

and

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its ...

areas from

province, but this did not last either. For the most part, Shandong has kept the same borders that it has today. About six million people starved to death in Shandong during the

Great Chinese Famine The Great Chinese Famine () was a famine that occurred between 1959 and 1961 in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest ...

. In recent years, Shandong, especially eastern Shandong, has enjoyed significant economic development, becoming one of the People's Republic of China's richest provinces.

Geography

Shandong is on the eastern edge of the

and in the lower reaches of the

, and extends out to sea as the

Shandong Peninsula The Shandong Peninsula or Jiaodong (tsiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou. Geography The waters ...

. Shandong borders the

Bohai Sea The Bohai Sea ( zh, c=渤海, p=Bó Hǎi, l=Bo Sea) is a gulf/inland sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects via the Bohai Strait. It ...

to the north,

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

to the northwest,

to the west,

to the south, and the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

to the northeast, east and southeast. It shares a short border with

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

between Henan and Jiangsu. The northwestern, western, and southwestern parts of the province are all part of the vast

. The province's center is more mountainous, with

being the most prominent. The east of the province is the hilly

extending into the sea; Miaodao Archipaelago to the north of Shandong Peninsula is the border of

(west) and

(east). The highest peak of Shandong is Jade Emperor Peak, with a height of , which is also the highest peak in the Mount Tai Ranges. The

passes through Shandong's western areas, since 1855, it has always been entering the sea to Shandong's northern coast; in Shandong, it flows on a

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

, higher than the surrounding land, and dividing western Shandong into the

Hai He The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), Postal Map Romanization, also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese rivers of China, river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. During the Song dynasty, the main st ...

watershed in the north and the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

watershed in the south. The

Grand Canal of China The Grand Canal () is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers and lakes in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern ...

enters Shandong from the northwest and leaves on the southwest.

Weishan Lake Nansi Lake (), or Weishan Lake, administrated by Weishan County, Shandong, Weishan County and located in Shandong Province in China, is the largest freshwater lake in the north of the country. It consists of four connected lakes: Weishan (), Zha ...

is the largest lake in the province. Shandong's coastline is long.

has a rocky coastline with cliffs, bays, and islands;

Laizhou Bay Laizhou Bay () is a bay on the southern shore of the Bohai Sea (also known as the ''Bohai Gulf'', or just ''Bo Hai'', which is a large and relatively shallow westward extension of the northern Yellow Sea), bounded by the northwestern coastline o ...

, the southernmost of the 3 bays of the

, is bordering the northern coast between

Dongying Dongying ( zh, s=东营 , t=東營 , p=Dōngyíng), is a prefecture-level city on the northern (Bohai Sea) coast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, 2,193,518 people resided within its administrative area of ...

and Penglai;

, which is much smaller, is surrounded by

. The Miaodao Islands extends northwards from the northernmost coast of the peninsula, separating the

and the

. With

serving as the province's economic and cultural center, the province's economic prowess has led to the development of modern coastal cities located at

, and

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

Climate

Shandong has a

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

(Köppen ''Dwa''); it is bordering

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

(C''wa'' under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

) in the south. Generally, summers are hot (typical max 35 °C) and rainy (except for eastern parts of Jiaodong Peninsula (typical max 28 °C) and Mount Tai (typical max 20 °C)), while winters are cold and dry. Average temperatures are in January and in July. Annual precipitation is , the vast majority of which occurs during summer, due to

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al influences.

Geology

Shandong is part of the Eastern Block of the North China craton. Beginning in the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

, Shandong has undergone a crustal thinning that is unusual for a

craton A craton ( , , or ; from "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and rifting of contine ...

and that has reduced the thickness of the crust from to as little as . Shandong has hence experienced extensive volcanism in the

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

. Some geological formations in Shandong are rich in fossils. For example,

Zhucheng Zhucheng () is a county-level city in the southeast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Weifang city and had at the 2010 census a population of 1,086,222 even though its built-up (''or metro'') area ...

in southeastern Shandong has been the site of discovering many dinosaur fossils. In 2008, about 7,600 dinosaur bones from ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'', ''

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...

'', and other

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

were found, likely the largest collection ever discovered at one location.

Politics

Kong Yanjin - bixi - seen from SSE - P1060183

The Shandong Provincial People's Congress is the highest organ of state power in Shandong province and Shandong's provincial legislature. Its standing committee exercises the majority of the power of The Shandong Provincial People's Congress. The current chairman of the standing committee is Li Ganjie. The Shandong Provincial People's Government is the State Administration in Shandong province. Its main officials are elected and appointed by The Shandong Provincial People's Congress. The provincial government reports to Shandong Provincial People's Congress and

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

. The current

Governor of Shandong The governor of Shandong, officially the Governor of the Shandong Provincial People's Government, is the head of the Shandong Provincial People's Government. The governor generally serves as the deputy secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committe ...

Zhou Naixiang Zhou Naixiang (; born December 1961) is a Chinese political figure and state-owned enterprise executive, who formerly served as the chairman of China State Construction Engineering. He is currently serving as the governor of Shandong. Biography ...

Economy

As of 1832, Shandong was exporting fruits, vegetables, wine, drugs, and deerskin, often heading to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

to exchange clothing and fabrics. The economy of Shandong is China's third largest provincial economy with a

CNY The renminbi ( ; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of China ...

¥8.3 trillion in 2021 or

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

$1.3 trillion in (nominal), which is equivalent to the GDP of Mexico. Its GDP per capita is around the national average. Compared to a country, it would be the 15th-largest economy and the 15th most populous as of 2021. Shandong ranks first among the provinces in the production of a variety of products, including

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, and

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

as well as precious metals such as

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

s. It also has one of the biggest

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

deposits in the world. Other important crops include

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

and

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

. Shandong has extensive

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

deposits as well, especially the Shengli Oil Field (lit. Victory Oilfield) in the

area in the

delta. Shandong also produces

bromine Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...

from underground wells and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

from seawater. It is the largest agricultural exporter in China. Shandong is one of China's richest provinces, and its economic development focuses on large enterprises with well-known brand names. Shandong is the biggest industrial producer and one of the top manufacturing provinces in China. Shandong has also benefited from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese investment and tourism, due to its geographical proximity to those countries. The richest part of the province is the

, where the city of

is home to three of the most well-known brand names of China: Tsingtao

Beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and se ...

and

Hisense Hisense Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province. Television sets are its main product, and it has been the largest TV manufacturer in China by market ...

. Besides,

's oil fields and petroleum industries form an important component of Shandong's economy. Despite the primacy of Shandong's energy sector, the province has also been plagued with problems of inefficiency and ranks as the largest consumer of fossil fuels in all of China.

Wine industry

The production of wine is the second largest industry in the Shandong Province, second only to agriculture. Geographically, the

coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

areas remain relatively flat. Most of the soil is loose, well-ventilated, and rich in minerals and

organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

that enable full development of the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

systems. Presently, there are more than 140 wineries in the region, mainly distributed in the Nanwang Grape Valley and the Yan-Peng Sightseeing Highway (both are in

). The region produced more than 40% of China's grape wine production. Main varieties such as

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Cabernet Gernischt Cabernet Gernischt is the name given to a red wine grape variety used in China. Originally believed to be of European origin, and similar if not identical to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Gernischt has since been proven to be genetically identical to ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

are all at 20 years of age, considered to be the golden stage for these grapes. Most of them maintain an average saccharinity of above 20%. Major producers * Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. * China Great Wall Wine Co. Ltd.

Economic and technological development zones

High-tech Industrial Development Zone Founded in 1991, the Jinan High-tech Industrial Development zone was one of the first of its kind approved by the State Council. The zone is located to the east of the city and covers a total planning area of that is divided into a central area covering , an export processing district of , and an eastern extension area of . 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. *

Export Processing Zone The export processing zone is located in the eastern suburbs of Jinan, east of the Jinan High-tech Industrial Development Zone, and to the north of the Jiwang highway. The distances to the Jiqing Highway and the Jinan Airport are respectively. *

Economic & Technological Development Area Approved by the State Council in October 1984, Qingdao Economic and Technical Development Zone has a plan of . In 2004 the local GDP was ¥27.51 billion, which increased by 28.9%; the total industrial output value is ¥60.6 billion, which increased by 31%. There have been 48 projects invested by companies listed among the Global

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

in the zone. With the fast development of reform and opening-up,

, Aucma,

Sinopec China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The SASAC administers China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation for the benefit of State Council of the ...

, CSIC, CNOOC, CIMC etc. are all located in the zone. *

Free Trade Zone The State Council established Qingdao Free Trade Zone in 1992. The zone is away from Qingdao Liuting Airport. It is also close to Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal. At present, more than 40 foreign-invested enterprises have moved in, and 2000 projects have been approved. It is one of the special economic areas which enjoys the most favorable investment policies on customs, foreign exchange, foreign trade, and taxation in China. *

High-tech Industrial Zone The State Council approved Qingdao High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in 1992. The zone is located close to Qingdao Liuting Airport and Qingdao Harbor. Encouraged industries include electronic information, biotechnology, medicine, new materials, new energy, advanced equipment manufacturing, marine science & technology, national defense technology. *

Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ...

Binhai Economic & Technological Development Area (BEDA) Established in August 1995, Weifang Binhai Economic & Technological Development Area (BEDA) is a national economic and technological development area approved by the State Council. Covering an area of , BEDA has a population of 100,000. BEDA possesses a large state-owned industrial land for use with an area of . The land can be transacted conveniently, guaranteeing the demand of any project construction and providing broad development space for the enterprises in the area. Continuously, BEDA has been accredited as National Demonstration Zone invigorating the Sea by Science and Technology, National Innovation Base for Rejuvenating Trade through Science and Technology and National Demonstration Eco-Industry Park. *

Economic & Technological Development Zone Weihai Economic and Technological Development Zone is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council on Oct 21, 1992. The administrative area has an area of , including the programmed area of and an initial area of . Its nearest port is Weihai Port, and the airport closest to the zone is Wuhai Airport. *

Export Processing Zone Weihai Export & Processing Zone (EPZ) was set up by the approval of the State Council on April 27, 2000. Weihai EPZ is located in Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone with programmed area of . Weihai EPZ belongs to comprehensive export & processing zone. The EPZ is located to Weihai Airport, to Weihai railway station and to Weihai Harbor. *

Torch Hi-Tech Science Park Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council in March 1991. Located in Weihai's northwest zone of culture, education and science, the Park has the total area of , the coastal line of and 150,000 residents. It is away from the city center, away from Weihai Port, away from Weihai railway station, away from Weihai Airport and away from Yantai Airport. *

Economic and Technological Development Area Yantai Economic and Technological Development Area is one of the earliest approved state level economic development zones in China. It now has planned area of and a population of 115,000. It lies on the tip of the Shandong Peninsula facing the

. It adjoins to downtown Yantai, merely away from Yantai Port, away from Yantai railway station, and a 30-minute drive to Yantai International Airport. *

Export Processing Zone Yantai Export Processing Zone (YTEPZ) is one of the first 15 export processing zones approved by the State Council. The total construction area of YTEPZ is , in which the initial zone covers . After developing for several years, YTEPZ is completely constructed. At present, the infrastructure has been completed, standard workshops of and bonded warehouses of have been built up. Up to now, owning perfect investment environment and conditions, YTEPZ has attracted investors both from foreign countries and regions such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sweden, the United States, Canada, etc., and from the domestic to invest and operate in the zone. *

Zibo Zibo () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Bi ...

National New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Demographics

Shandong is the second most populous province of China, after

, just slightly ahead of

, with a population of more than 101,527,453 at the

2020 Chinese census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China, national census conducted by the National Bure ...

. Over 99% of Shandong's population is

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

. Minority groups include the Hui and the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

s. Shandong citizens are also known to have the tallest average height of any Chinese province. As of 2010, 16-18-year-old male students in Yantai measured while female students measured .

Religion

The predominant religions in Shandong are

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

s, Taoist traditions and

. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 25,28% of the population believes in

ancestor veneration The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

, while 1.21% of the population identifies as Christian, decreasing from 1.30% in 2004. The Christians were 1.89% of the province's population in 1949, the largest proportion in China at that time. According to a survey of the year 2010, Muslims constitute 0.55% of Shandong's population up from 0.14% in 1949. The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 80.05% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism,

, Taoism, and folk religious sects. Shandong is the province where

was born in the year 551 B.C.

: The most well-known religion and/or philosophy of Shandong is Confucianism. Each year thousands of people come to Shandong to visit and learn about Confucius' culture. According to Chinese tradition, Confucius was a thinker, political figure, educator, and founder of the Ru School of Chinese thought. His teachings, preserved in the Lunyu or Analects, form the foundation of much of subsequent Chinese speculation on the ideal man's education and comportment, how such an individual should live his life and interact with others, and the forms of society and government in which he should participate. Additionally, there are many famous books about Confucius; the most famous one is the Analects written by his students. Confucius also helped edit The Five Classics (五经). The Five Classics include The Book of Songs, History, Changes and Rites.

Famous view and arts

* The

Northern Shaolin In its broadest sense, Northern Shaolin () is the external (as opposed to internal) martial arts of Northern China, referring to those styles from the Northern Shaolin Monastery in Henan and specifically to the style practice by ''Gù Rǔzhāng ...

Seven Star Praying Mantis style of kung fu is also taught in this province. It is also said that Northern Mantis had originated here and not in the Shaolin temple in

Henan Province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

, which is always stated in books. * Guandi is also known for Guangong, Guanyu. He is a famous general in the book ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

''. In Daojiao (a traditional Chinese religion), Guangong is also one of the four Protectors. *

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and

Cemetery of Confucius The Cemetery of Confucius () is a cemetery of the Kong clan (the descendants of Confucius) in Confucius' hometown Qufu in eastern Shandong province. Confucius himself and some of his disciples are buried there, as well as many thousands of his ...

and the Kong is a very famous

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in China, and it is also a 5A Tourist Attraction. Lying to the Temple's east, the

Kong Family Mansion The Kong Family Mansion () was the historical residence of the direct descendants of Confucius in the City of Qufu, the hometown of Confucius in Shandong Province, China. The extant structures mainly date from the Ming and Qing dynasties. From th ...

developed from a small family house linked to the temple into an aristocratic mansion. The male direct descendants of Confucius lived and worked.

Administrative divisions

Shandong is divided into 16 prefecture-level divisions: all

prefecture-level cities A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

(including two sub-provincial cities). On January 1, 2019,

Laiwu Laiwu () was a prefecture-level city in central Shandong Province (China), Province, China. Bordered the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east and Tai'an to the southwest, it was the smallest prefecture-level city in the p ...

was wholly annexed to Jinan: The 16 prefecture-level cities of Shandong are subdivided into 137 county-level divisions (55

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s, 26

county-level cities , map = , category = Third level administrative division of a unitary state , territory = People's Republic of China , upper_unit = Prefectures, Provinces , start_date = , current_number = 411 (408 controlled, 3 claimed) , number_da ...

, and 56

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

). Those are in turn divided into 1941

township-level divisions The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since 1412, due to mainland China's large population and geographical area. In the People's Republic of China, the constitution provides for three levels of government. Ho ...

(1223

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s, 293

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s, two ethnic townships, and 423

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

s).

Urban areas

Culture

Mandarin dialects Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l= officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretches from Yunnan in the ...

are spoken in Shandong. Linguists classify these dialects into three broad categories: Ji Lu Mandarin spoken in the northwest (as well as in neighboring

), such as the Jinan dialect;

Zhongyuan Mandarin Central Plains Mandarin, or ''Zhongyuan'' Mandarin (), is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the central and southern parts of Shaanxi, Henan, southwestern part of Shanxi, southern part of Gansu, far southern part of Hebei, northern Anhui, n ...

spoken in the southwest (as well as in neighboring

); and Jiao Liao Mandarin spoken in the

(as well as the

Liaodong Peninsula The Liaodong or Liaotung Peninsula ( zh, s=辽东半岛, t=遼東半島, p=Liáodōng Bàndǎo) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located ...

(e.g.,

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

Dandong Dandong ( zh, s=丹东 , t=丹東 , p=Dāndōng; lit. "Red East"), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest ...

) and the southeastern Jilin(e.g.,

Baishan Baishan ( zh, s=白山 , p=Báishān), is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jilin province, in the Northeast China, Dongbei (northeastern) part of China. "" literally means "White Mountain", and is named after Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长 ...

Tonghua Tonghua ( zh, s=通化 , p=Tōnghuà) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, ...

)), such as the Weihai Dialect. When people speak of the "Shandong dialect" (), it is generally the first or the second that is meant; the Jiao Liao dialects of Shandong are commonly called the "Jiaodong dialect" ().

Shandong cuisine Shandong cuisine (), more commonly known in Chinese as Lu cuisine, is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine and one of the Four Great Traditions (). It is derived from the native cooking style of Shandong Province, a norther ...

() is one of the eight great traditions of

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from Greater China, China, as well as from Overseas Chinese, Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ...

. It is known for its bread(corn-based) and fish dishes. It can be more finely divided into inland Shandong cuisine (e.g. Jinan cuisine); the

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

-centered Jiaodong cuisine in the peninsula; and Confucius's Mansion cuisine, an elaborate tradition originally intended for imperial and other important feasts. Shandong Bangzi and Lüju are popular types of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

in Shandong; both originated from southwestern Shandong.

Transport

Trains

The Jingjiu railway (

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

) and Jinghu railway (

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

) are both major arterial railways that pass through the western part of Shandong. The Jingjiu passes through

Liaocheng Liaocheng ( zh, s=, p=Liáochéng), is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of Hebei and Henan t ...

and

Heze Heze (), formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, bordering Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively.The total area is 12238.62 square kilo ...

; the Jinghu passes through

Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei ...

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng ...

, Yanzhou (the Jinghu high-speed railway will through

) and

Zaozhuang Zaozhuang ( zh, s=枣庄 , t=棗莊 , p=Zǎozhuāng) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Since January 2019 (after the Laiwu prefecture got incorporated into Jinan prefecture), the smallest pre ...

. The Jiaoji railway is an important railway of Shandong, linking its two largest cities of

and

, with the longest history of all. As of the end of 2018,

is the only city in Shandong with a metro system, with four lines in operation.

was opened in early 2019.

Road

Shandong has one of the densest and highest quality expressway networks among all Chinese provinces. These National Trunk Highway System (NTHS) expressways pass through or begin in Shandong. Expressways that begin in Shandong are in bold: * G2 Jinghu Expressway (

–

) * G3 Jingtai Expressway (Beijing–

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

) * G15 Shenhai Expressway (

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

–

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

) * G18 Rongwu Expressway ( Rongcheng–

Wuhai Wuhai (; ''Üqai qota'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Үхай хот) is a prefecture-level city and regional center in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, and is by area the smallest prefecture-level division of the region. It is located on ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

) * G20 Qingyin Expressway (

–

Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...

Ningxia Ningxia, officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in Northwestern China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was later separated from Gansu in 1958 and reconstituted as an autonomous ...

) * G22 Qinglan Expressway (Qingdao–

Lanzhou Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. His ...

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

) * G25 Changshen Expressway (

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

–

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

) There are also many shorter regional expressways within Shandong.

Sea

The

, with its bays and harbours, has many important ports, including

Rizhao Rizhao (), alternatively romanized as Jihchao, is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shandong province, China. It is situated on the coastline along the Yellow Sea, and features a major seaport, the Port of Rizhao. It borders Qingdao to th ...

, Dongying and

Longkou Longkou (), formerly Huang County (), is a port city in northeastern Shandong province, China, facing the Bohai Sea to the north and the Laizhou Bay to the west. Longkou, a county-level city, is administered by the prefecture-level city of Yant ...

. Many of these ports have historical significance and the sites of former foreign naval bases or historical battles. Ferries link the cities on the north coast of the peninsula with the

, further north across the sea. Weidong Ferry links Shandong with

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Air

Important airports include Jinan Yaoqiang Airport and

Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province. It received approval in December 2013, and replaced Qingdao Liuting International Airport as the city's main a ...

. Other airports are

Dongying Shengli Airport Dongying Shengli Airport is an airport serving the city of Dongying in Shandong Province, China. It is located in the town of Yong'an, and was formerly called Dongying Yong'an Airport (). Construction of the airport was started in May 1984 a ...

Jining Qufu Airport Jining Qufu Airport was an airport serving the cities of Jining and Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, in Shandong Province, China. The airport was located 25 kilometers west of downtown Jining. The airport closed on 28 December 2023 when the new ...

, Linyi Shubuling Airport, Weifang Airport,

Weihai Dashuibo Airport Weihai Dashuipo International Airport is an airport serving the city of Weihai in Shandong province, China. The airport is located in Dashuipo Town, Wendeng District, Weihai City. It is 5 kilometers from Wendeng East Railway Station on the ...

and

Yantai Laishan International Airport Yantai Laishan Airport is a military airport in Yantai in Shandong, China. It formerly also served as the civil airport of Yantai, until it was replaced by Yantai Penglai International Airport which was opened on 28 May 2015. It is about fr ...

Tourism

Tourist attractions in Shandong include: *

, the capital city of Shandong since

, renowned for its 72 Famous Springs. ** Baotu Spring, a culturally significant artesian karst spring, declared as "Number One Spring under the Heaven" () by the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. **

Daming Lake Daming Lake () is the largest lake in the city of Jinan, capital of Shandong, China and one of city's main natural and cultural landmarks and tourist attraction. Located to the north of the historical city center, the lake is fed by the artesian k ...

, the largest lake in Jinan, whose water is from the area's springs.

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

described its beauty in his works. ** Thousand Buddha Mountain, renowned for its numerous Buddha images which have been carved out of the hill's rock faces or free-standing structures erect since the times of the

and its Xingguochan Temple. **Fuxue Confucian Temple of Jinan. ** Lingyan Temple, one of the four most famous temples () in

, in which there is 11th century Pizhi Pagoda and the Thousand Buddha Hall which houses a

bronze Buddha statue as well as 40 painted clay statues of life-size luohan from the

. **remnant of

Great Wall of Qi The Great Wall of Qi () is the oldest existing Great Wall in China. Construction of the wall started in 441 BC by the state of Qi, to defend itself against attacks from the states of Jin and Yue. Construction ended during the Warring States ...

, the oldest existing Great Wall in China, which is built in 685 BCE and stretches from

. * Penglai, a town on the north of the Shandong peninsula famed in

. *

(a former German port city), is a beach resort city on the south of the peninsula that has

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-era heritage

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and is also famous for its

Tsingtao beer Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd. () is China's second largest brewery, with about 15% of domestic market share and accounts for half of China's national beer exports. The brewery was founded in 1903 as an Anglo–German business with the brewery under ...

. ** Ba Da Guan, made up of eight streets named after the eight great military forts of ancient times. ** Zhan Qiao, a long strip pier stretches into the sea and was the first wharf at Qingdao. ** Laoshan, a scenic area and

Daoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

center to the east of Qingdao. *

, an ancient trading and administrative center with some famous archaeological discoveries. *

, a former British port city important in the

second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

has

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-era heritage

. *

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

: **

and

, and the Kong Family Mansion in

Kong Yuxu - two bixi - seen from S - P1060231

** Tai Shan, sacred mountain, in

has numerous natural and historic sites, such as Shihu Garden (from the Late Ming and early Qing dynasty), Fangong Pavilion (from the Song dynasty), fossil sites (including dinosaur fossils, in Shanwang, Linqu), Mount Yi National Forest Park and Mount Qingyun. Yangjiabu has painted New Year woodcuts, which are also famous all around China.

Education

Colleges and universities

Shandong is considered one of China's leading provinces in education and research. Shandong hosts 153 higher education institutions, ranking second in the East China region after

and fourth among all Chinese provinces/municipalities after

and

. As of 2023, two major cities in the province ranked in the top 50 cities in the world (

32nd and

43rd) by scientific research output, as tracked by the

. *

Shandong University Shandong University (; SDU) is a public university in Jinan, Shandong, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Clas ...

(Jinan) *

Ocean University of China The Ocean University of China () is a public university in Qingdao, Shandong, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double Firs ...

(Qingdao) * China University of Petroleum (Dongying and Qingdao) * University of Jinan (Jinan) * Shandong Normal University * Shandong Agricultural University (Tai'an) * Shandong University of Finance and Economics (Jinan) * Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Jinan) *

Harbin Institute of Technology The Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) is a public science and engineering university in Nan'gang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. It is one of the top universities in China and now affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Techn ...

(Weihai) * China Agricultural University (Yantai) * Harbin University of Science and Technology (Weihai) * Yantai University (Yantai) * Qufu Normal University (Qufu) * Qingdao University (Qingdao) * Shandong University of Science and Technology (Qingdao) * Shandong University of Technology (Zibo) * Liaocheng University (Liaocheng) * Linyi University (Linyi) * Qingdao Agricultural University (Qingdao) * Binzhou Medical College (Binzhou) * Jining Medical University (Jining) *

Weifang Medical University Shandong Second Medical University (), formerly known as Weifang Medical University (WMU; ), is a medical university based in Weifang, Shandong province, in China. History The university was created as Shandong province's ''Changwei Medical Sc ...

(Weifang) *

Weifang University Weifang University (WFU; ) is a provincial public undergraduate and tertiary vocational college in Weifang, Shandong, China. Despite its self-designated English name, the institute has not been granted university status by the authorities but col ...

(Weifang) * Shandong Institute of Business and Technology (Yantai) * Shandong Women's University (Jinan) * Qingdao Technical College (Qingdao) * Rizhao Polytechnic (Rizhao) * Zibo Vocational Institute (Zibo) * Qingdao Binhai University (Qingdao) * Shandong Foreign Languages Vocational College (Rizhao)

Sports

Events held in Shandong

2009 National Games of China The 11th National Games of China were held in various cities in Shandong from October 16 to October 28, 2009. Represented were 33 sports, 43 disciplines and 362 events, including 4 winter sports which were held in Shenyang, Changchun and Qingdao ...

* 2002 Table Tennis World Cup *

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

* 2007 A3 Champions Cup *

Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad ( 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and possibly the cancelled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic s ...

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

2011 Sudirman Cup The 2011 Sudirman Cup was the twelfth tournament of the Sudirman Cup. It was held from May 22–29, 2011 in Qingdao, China. According to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 32 teams confirmed their participation, for the first time twelve teams co ...

2012 Badminton Asia Championships The 2012 Badminton Asia Championships was the 31st tournament of the Badminton Asia Championships. It was held in Qingdao, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China ...

2012 Asian Beach Games The third Asian Beach Games were held in Haiyang, China in 2012. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * * Participating nations 43 out of 45 Asian countries participated in these games. The two countries that did not participate in th ...

Professional sports teams based in Shandong

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin () is a Chinese professional basketball team based in Jinan, Shandong, competing in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Some of the team's home games are also held in the nearby city of Linyi. ...

Qingdao Eagles The Qingdao Guoxin Haitian Eagle Club, also known as Qingdao Daily Fresh or Qingdao Eagles are a Chinese professional basketball team which is based in Qingdao, Shandong. The club plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

** Shandong Taishan ** Qingdao Hainiu ** Qingdao West Coast *

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

** Qingdao Red Lions

Former professional sports teams based in Shandong

* Jinan Xingzhou * Qingdao Haisha * Qingdao Sunrise * Qingdao Hailifeng * Qingdao Huanghai * Jining Dranix * Shandong Tengding * Yantai Yiteng F.C.

Notes

References

Sources

China's agricultural export powerhouse faces grim year - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn

at HKTDC

External links

* *
Shandong Government website
*
Complete Map of the Seven Coastal Provinces
from 1821 to 1850
Shandong Article
Encyclopædia Britannica {{Portal bar, China Provinces of the People's Republic of China East China

Etymology

History

Ancient history

Imperial history

Early modern history

Geography

Climate

Geology

Politics

Economy

Wine industry

Economic and technological development zones

Demographics

Religion

Famous view and arts

Administrative divisions

Urban areas

Culture

Transport

Trains

Road

Sea

Air

Tourism

Education

Colleges and universities

Sports

Events held in Shandong

Professional sports teams based in Shandong

Former professional sports teams based in Shandong

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links