Tai'an () is a

prefecture-level city 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 ...

in Western Shandong Province of 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 ...

. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to the extreme west and Jining to the south. To the west, Tai'an is separated from the province of Henan by 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 ...

. Its population was 5,494,207 as of the 2010 census, of whom 1,735,425 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of two urban districts ('' Taishan District and Daiyue District'').

Administration

The

of Tai'an administers six county-level divisions, including two districts, two county-level cities and two counties. * Taishan District () * Daiyue District () * Xintai City () * Feicheng City () * Ningyang County () * Dongping County ()

History

Etymology

Tai'an is named after Mount Tai. In Chinese, Tai () means "significant". Thus, the name Tai'an is derived from the ancient saying: "If Mount Tai is safe, then the four seas (the world) are safe ()."

Early history

Tai'an was home to the Dawenkou culture during the

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 ...

era. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the region belonged to the states of Qi and Lu. The site of major historical and cultural significance in the area is Mount Tai. It attracted multiple emperors throughout the dynasties to visit, offer sacrifice to the heaven gods and pray for harvest. Confucius, Sima Qian, Cao Zhi, Li Bai, Du Fu and other litterateurs visited here and many great works were produced.

Modern history

In 1909, German colonials built Tai'an-Fu Railway Station along with the construction of Tianjin–Pukou railway (Tientsin–Pukow railway). On 10 November of the following year, the first train service passed through the station. On 1 May 1928, Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of KMT and nationalist revolutionary army, commanded the attack of Tai'an and occupied it the next day. In October 1937, exiled students from Peking, Tianjin and other major cities arrived in Tai'an seeking asylum after the north of Yellow river was occupied by the Japanese forces. On 24 December 1937, Japanese troops crossed the Yellow River, occupied Jinan on the next day, and bombed Tai'an. On the night of 31 December, the Japanese occupied Tai'an. Local resistants were assembled autonomously to fight against the occupation.

Culture

Tai'an holds significant historical and cultural importance due to its association with Mount Tai, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Worship at Mount Tai began in prehistoric times where the religious Confucianism ritual Feng Shan would be performed by the kings of Zhou and later emperors of China. While the last traditional Feng Shan was performed in 1790, Tai'an holds an annual large-scale live performance called "Chinese Taishan·Fengshan Grand Ceremony".�
泰山文化纪年
》：1、乾隆十三年（1748年）二月二十八日，清高宗奉皇太后（孝圣宪皇后钮祜禄氏，高宗之母）东巡，驻跸泰安府。次日，祭岱岳庙，侍太后登岱顶，祀碧霞元君。2、乾隆十六年（1751年）四月十六日，清高宗与皇太后南巡回銮，幸泰安，祀岱岳庙。3、乾隆二十二年（1757年）四月十一日，清高宗南巡回銮，抵泰安，谒岱岳庙，登岱顶，礼碧霞祠。4、乾隆二十七年（1762年）四月十九日，清高宗南巡回銮，途经泰安，谒岱岳庙，次日登山祀碧霞祠。5、乾隆三十年（1765年）四月，清高宗奉皇太后南巡，回銮谒岱岳庙，驻跸灵岩寺。6、乾隆三十六年（1771年）二月，清高宗为恭贺皇太后八十寿辰，奉太后东巡，二十四日至泰安府，驻跸白鹤泉（此地是年建成行宫）。次日高宗躬谒岱庙。7、乾隆四十一年（1776年）三月，为庆祝大小金川叛乱平定，清高宗“恭奉皇太后巡幸山左，登岱延禧”。三月十四日至泰安府，谒岱庙，驻跸白鹤泉行宫。十五日登岱顶，祀碧霞祠。8、乾隆四十五年（1780年）正月，清高宗南巡，过泰安府。二十六日，驻跸白鹤泉行宫，次日谒遥参亭、岱庙。9、乾隆四十九年（1784年）二月初六，清高宗与皇子顒琰（即后之清仁宗嘉庆皇帝）南巡江河至泰安，躬谒遥参亭，“诣岱庙行礼”。10、乾隆五十五年（1790年）二月，清高宗东巡。三月初四日至泰安府，谒岱庙，驻跸白鹤泉行宫。次日以八旬之龄与皇子顒琰登岱顶，祀碧霞祠。初七日躬诣岱庙。 Tai'an is a tourist city, and the Tai'an government has also been trying to promote the development of tourism in Tai'an.

Geography and climate

Tai'an is centered on the south side of Mount Tai. Dongping Lake is the biggest lake. Tai'an lies in the northern temperate zone and has a continental, semi-humid monsoon climate. The average annual temperatures are (January), (annual average), and (July). The average annual precipitation is .

Education

* Shandong University of Science and Technology * Shandong First Medical University * Shandong Agricultural University * Taishan University * Tai'an Public Health School * Tai'an Polytechnic College * Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College Taian Campus Secondary schools * Tai’an the first high school (泰安一中)

Transportation

Tai'an is served by Tai'an railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway and Taishan railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai railway. Tai'an is served by the G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and on the Tai-Lai Expressway (west-east from Tai'an to Laiwu). There is a four-lane highway from Tai'an to the Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport. Within Tai'an there are large tree lined avenues throughout the city. The nearest major airport is Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport, about to the north.

References

External links

*
Government website of Tai'an
(in Simplified Chinese) {{authority control Cities in Shandong Prefecture-level divisions of Shandong National Civilized City National Famous Historical and Cultural City