Name: Jining

Titles: The hometown of Confucius and Mencius and a metropolis on the Grand Canal

Population: 8.9 million 

Area: 11,000 square kilometers

Geography

Situated in the south of Shandong province, Jining is in the fringe zone of four provinces: Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui.

It has a special geographic situation – the eastern part is a mountainous area while the mid-west area combines plains, billabongs and a freshwater lake of 1,260 square kilometers, the largest in North China.