[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shandong, bordering on the Bohai and the Huanghai seas, looks like an eagle sticking out from the vast territory of China. It is about 700 kilometers long from east to west and 430 kilometers wide from south to north, with a total land area of 155,800 square kilometers and a total ocean area of 159,600 square kilometers.

Shandong has been inhabited since ancient times and has an abundance of nature. It has an eastern coastline, beautiful lakes in the south of the province, immense plains in the west, the grand Yellow River flowing through the north, and the magnificent and historic Mount Tai in its center.

[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

About 1,532.7 meters above sea level, Mount Tai is prominently located in the heart of Shandong, making it the highest peak in the province. It has been symbolizing since ancient times the spirit as well as the peace and prosperity of the Chinese nation. Yellow River, the second longest river in China, flows into the sea at the Bohai Bay and extends 628 kilometers in the province.

Enjoying a total length of 1,782 kilometers and walking 643 kilometers across the plain of west Shandong, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was renowned in history for the streaming boats and the gathering of merchants. The South Four Lakes basin, unsurprisingly in the south of Shandong, consists of Weishan Lake, Zhaoyang Lake, Dushan Lake and Nanyang Lake, which covers an area of 1,266 square kilometers and is the largest freshwater lake in north China.

Facing to the east the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago across a vast stretch of sea, and looking towards Liaoning peninsula to the north, Shandong is surrounded by seas on three sides. Its coastline is over 3,300 kilometers, accounting for one sixth of the coastline of the whole of China, and its offshore area is almost equivalent to its land area.