ChinaRegions & prefectures

Shandong

The sacred mountain emperors climbed, and the birthplace of Confucius.

Capital: Jinan
Status: Province
Region: East China
Must-see: Mount Tai and its six thousand steps
Local specialty: Tsingtao beer, Lu cuisine, peanuts

Confucius was born at Qufu around 551 BCE; his family, the Kong, held the same estate there for two and a half thousand years and holds the longest documented genealogy in the world. Mount Tai to the west is the first of the five sacred Daoist mountains: performing the fengshan sacrifice there amounted to having one’s reign ratified by Heaven. Qingdao, a former German concession, has brewed Tsingtao beer since 1903.

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Confucius (孔子)Chinese philosopher (551-479 BC). Founder of Confucianism, one of Asia's most influential thoughts.Mount TaiSix thousand six hundred steps, seventy-two emperors and two thousand inscriptions cut into the rock.

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