Shandong is a province restoring ancient Chinese culture for centuries. The world-renowned Dawenkou Cultural Remains, Longkou Cultural Remains are both first unearthed in Shandong.
Shandong Province is situated along the eastern coastal lines and in the lower reaches of Yellow River, comprising of peninsulas and inlands. The Shandong peninsula stretches out between Bo Sea and Yellow Sea, stands facing each other with Liaodong peninsula and embraces the Bo Sea bay. The inlands border Hebei Province and Jiangsu Province from north to south.
Shandong is a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and Confucianism. Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and one of the world's sites with the longest history of continuous religious worship. The Buddhist temples in the mountains to the south of the provincial capital of Jinan where once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius that was later established as the center of Confucianism.
Provincial Capital: Jinan
Area: Covering a total land area of 15.71 million square kilometers.
Geography: Shandong is on the lower reaches of the Huanghe River (Yellow River) in the eastern part of the North China Plain. The Shandong Peninsular borders on the Bohai Sea in the northwest and the Yellow Sea in the northeast and south, with a coastline running about 3,000 kilometers.
Shandong is mostly flat in terrain. The northwestern, western, and southwestern parts of the province are all part of the vast North China Plain. The center of the province is more mountainous, with the Mount Tai, Mount Lu, and Mengshan Mountains being the most prominent.
The Yellow River passes through Shandong's western areas, entering the sea along Shandong's northern coast; in its traversal of Shandong. The Grand Canal of China enters Shandong from the northwest and leaves on the southwest. Weishan Lake is the largest lake of the province. Shandong's coastline is 3000 km long. Shandong Peninsula has a rocky coastline with cliffs, bays, and islands
Population: Shandong Province has a large population of 92, 48 million.
Administrative Division: Until 2005, Shandong has 17 cities, 139 county-level districts, among them 49 districts in urban area, 31 county-level cities, 60 counties. Jinan is the capital of Shandong
Climate: Shandong has a warm-temperate monsoonal climate. It has hot summers with centralized rainfall as well as short springs and autumns with an average annual temperature ranging from 11centigrade to 14centigrade. The temperature diversifies more dramatic from east to west than from the south to north. With an average annual rainfall ranging from 550mm to 950mm, the rainfall reduces from the southeast to northwest. Shandong province has abundant sunshine with an average ranging from 2300 to 2890 hours annually; the sunshine can afford the need of sowing seeds twice per year. Because 60% rainfall centralized in summer, it is easy to come to waterlog in summer and drought in winter and spring. It is most influential for agriculture.
The climate of Shandong is warm temperate zone monsoon climate types. Its rainfall is concentrated; its spring and autumn are short, while its winter and summer are long. The annual average temperature of Shandong is about 11℃~ 14℃, which increases from the northeast coast to southwest inland. Extreme minimum temperature can reach -20℃~-11℃; its extreme maximum temperature can reach 36℃~ 43℃. Its annual average precipitation is in commonly 550 ~ 950 millimetres.
Best season to visit Beijing:
The best time to travel in Shandong is in autumn, especially April and May, August to October. Spring is short in Shandong. The temperature in this season is a little high with little rainfall and much sunlight. The average temperature is about 8.0℃~15.2℃. Summer is long in Shandong. The temperature of the hottest month July is about 24℃~27℃. The average temperature in this season is about 20.9℃~26.7℃. The temperature in autumn in Shandong decreases obviously. This season has much invigorating autumn climate. The average temperature in this season is about 12.8℃~15.0℃. Winter is a little long, dry and cold in Shandong. The temperature of the coldest month January is about -4℃~1℃; the average temperature of winter is about 0.7℃~ -2.8℃.
Clothes for travelling:
The weather in spring is changeable, tourists should bring enough clothes and take rain gear, in order to avoid catching cold. Summer has strong sunshine, you can wear short sleeve shorts, and sunscreen products are essential. Although autumn is always sunny days, if you go out, you should consider wind weather problems. Winter is a little cold, you should put on a thick coat and heavy sweater.
Avoid Peak Holidays:
It is not a good idea to travel in China during Chinese holidays when huge numbers of Chinese people are travelling around. The busiest three national holidays in China are Chinese Spring Festival (usually in late Jan or early Feb.), International Labor Day (May 01 to 03) and National Day (Oct 01-07).. Spring Festival is an especially crowded time to travel. The advantage of being in China at this time is that you will get the opportunity to experience "first hand" the significance of these celebrations in Chinese culture.
Other Tips:
1. If you are going to visit Mount Taishan or Qufu, you'd better prepare a comfortable sports shoes; if you are interested in some sand beach tours, you need to take your slippers.
2. While enjoying your Shandong Tours in Mount Taishan, you should pay attention to the low temperature; you need to take enough clothes with you.
3. Please take your personal drugs like Health pill, Motion Sickness Drugs, cold medication and so on.