Many books are displayed on the shelves in Nishan Reading Room in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat account: jnwhlyj]

Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province, was ranked seventh among the nation's more than 2,700 counties in respect to cultural development, according to a list recently published by the journal Insight China.

The honor comes from the city's continued efforts to improve its cultural infrastructure, organize various activities, develop its tourism industry, as well as protect ancient buildings.

Qufu has built many libraries, cultural museums, and reading rooms, where a group of lecturers give courses periodically about Confucian culture, which was originally created by Confucius, a great ancient Chinese philosopher and educator born in Qufu.

The city has also staged a variety of exhibitions and shows in schools, villages, as well as tourist attractions to pass down local intangible cultural heritages. Over 6,000 cultural activities have been held during the past year and attracted more than 60,000 people in total.

In addition, Qufu has made great efforts to develop its tourism industry. It has held successfully the International Confucius Culture Festival, the Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, as well as a series of online events to promote local tourist attractions.