Confucius Temple, Qufu

Day 01Arrival in Jinan

Our guide will meet you outside the baggage claim area at Jinan Airport and transfer you to the hotel. The rest of the day is for your own to explore the city. You can also relax by getting around and shopping in the city center. Taste Lu Cai (Shandong dishes) is of great joy too. It is among the eight major cuisines in China. Jinan Cuisine is a vital branch.

Day 02Jinan - Qufu

Drive to Qufu and transfer to the hotel. As the hometown of Confucius, the city is well known for its Confucian cultural relics. After arrival, you will be led to visit the Confucius Mansion, the Confucius Temple and the Confucius Forest, the three most representative attractions of Qufu. (B+L)

Descriptions:
San Kong (Three Confucius) - This is phrase called as a joint name of the Confucius/Kong Family Mansion (Kong Fu), the Confucius Temple (Kong Miao) and the Confucius Forest (Kong Lin). There are Confucius Temple to worship at lots of capital cities and town seats in the country. However, Qufu has the largest one. Apart from this magnificent huge building complex, it also reserves the Kong Family's mansion hereditary for more than seventy generations and Kong Family's graveyard (a vast artificial garden meanwhile) one time larger than the county seat of Qufu.

Mt. Taishan, Qufu

Day 03Qufu - Tai'an - Jinan

Drive to Tai'an. Visit the Mt. Tai by cable car and the Daimao Temple. Transfer back to Jinan and check in at the hotel.(B+L)

Descriptions:
Mt. Tai - Also called Dai Shan, Tai Yue, Dong Yue and etc, Mt. Tai (Tai Shan) is one of the five greatest mountains in China. In ancient times, the mountain was always a shrine for the emperors to offer ceremonial sacrifices to heaven and earth. Architectures in the mountain are mainly Ming and Qing styles, combining with paintings and stone sculptures. Sunrise is one of the most spectacular scenes of Mt. Tai. March to November is the high season to visit. 
 
Daimiao Temple - It is also known as Tai Temple which is located at the foot of Mt. Tai. The construction of the temple can be traced back to the Qin and Han, and then expanded for several time in following dynasties until Qing. This is a grand and spectacular palace style complex for the emperors to worship and pay homage to the God of the mountain. It was the largest and best preserved architecture complex in Mt. Tai. For its profound history and splendid culture, Dai Temple was listed among the World Cultural Heritage in 1987.

Dai Temple, Qufu

Day 04Departure from Jinan

Jinan is a famous 'spring city' for there are hundreds of springs around the city. Baotu Spring is the most noted one. In the last day of the tour, you will be taken to visit the Baotu Spring and the Black Tiger Spring. Then your journey ends in Jinan and we will see you off at the airport.(B+L)

Descriptions:
Baotu Spring - Reportedly, Baotu Spring tops the first place among the seventy-two famous springs of Jinan City, and it is also the earliest of them who was included in history records. Early in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the spring with clear and sweet water pouring out had become the top scenic spot of Jinan. In the east of the spring, there is a pavilion for visitors to make tea with boiled spring water. Located in the city center, the spring is backed by the Thousand-Buddha Mountain in the south and beautiful Daming Lake in the north. They are the three major places of interest of Jinan.

B-- Breakfast     L-- Lunch     D-- Dinner