Tai'an is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to the extreme west and Jining to the south. To the west, Tai'an is separated from the province of Henan by the Yellow River. Its population was 5,494,207 as of the 2010 census, of whom 1,735,425 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of two urban districts (Taishan District and Daiyue District).

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Tai'an administers six county-level divisions, including two districts, two county-level cities and two counties.

History

Etymology

Tai'an is named after Mount Tai. In Chinese, Tai means "significant". Thus, the name Tai'an is derived from the ancient saying: "If Mount Tai is safe, then the four seas (the world) are safe ."

Early history

Tai'an was home to the Dawenkou culture during the neolithic era. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the region belonged to the states of Qi and Lu. The site of major historical and cultural significance in the area is Mount Tai. It attracted multiple emperors throughout the dynasties to visit, offer sacrifice to the heaven gods and pray for harvest. Confucius, Sima Qian, Cao Zhi, Li Bai, Du Fu and other litterateurs visited here and many great works were produced.

Modern history

In 1909, German colonials built Tai'an-Fu Railway Station along with the construction of Tianjin–Pukou railway (Tientsin–Pukow railway). On 10 November of the following year, the first train service passed through the station. On 1 May 1928, Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of KMT and nationalist revolutionary army, commanded the attack of Tai'an and occupied it the next day. In October 1937, exiled students from Peking, Tianjin and other major cities arrived in Tai'an seeking asylum after the north of Yellow river was occupied by the Japanese forces. On 24 December 1937, Japanese troops crossed the Yellow River, occupied Jinan on the next day, and bombed Tai'an. On the night of 31 December, the Japanese occupied Tai'an. Local resistants were assembled autonomously to fight against the occupation.

Culture

Long ago, successive emperors would come to Tai'an to hold a Zen ceremony, and now the feudal society is over, but every year Tai'an will hold a large-scale live performance: "Chinese Taishan·Fengshan Grand Ceremony". Tai'an is a tourist city, and the Tai'an government has also been trying to promote the development of tourism in Tai'an.

Geography and climate

Tai'an is centered on the south side of Mount Tai. Dongping Lake is the biggest lake. Tai'an lies in the northern temperate zone and has a continental, semi-humid monsoon climate. The average annual temperatures are -2.1 C (January), 12.8 C (annual average), and 26.0 C (July). The average annual precipitation is 681 mm.

Education

Secondary schools

Transportation

Tai'an is served by Tai'an railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway and Taishan railway station on the Beijing–Shanghai railway. Tai'an is served by the G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and on the Tai-Lai Expressway (west-east from Tai'an to Laiwu). There is a four-lane highway from Tai'an to the Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport. Within Tai'an there are large tree lined avenues throughout the city. The nearest major airport is Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport, about 120 km to the north.