Shandong

Shandong, also known as Schantung or Lessing-Othmer Schandung (Chinese 山東 / 山东, pinyin Shāndōng), is a province on the east coast of China. Shandong is located on the lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huang He). From 1898 to 1914, part of the province was a colony of the German Empire along with the Kiauchou area. Neighboring provinces are Anhui, Hebei, Henan and Jiangsu.

Geography

Location

The east of the province is formed by the Shandong Peninsula between the Bohai Gulf and the Yellow Sea. The coast of Shandong is 3000 km long. The Huang He river flows into the Bohai Gulf in Shandong. There are also some islands, especially the Miaodao Islands belonging to the territory of Shandong. To the west of the province is the Taihang Mountains, which gave Shandong its present name, which can be translated as East of the Mountains.

Topography

The territory of the province can be divided into four parts:

1. The plain in northwest Shandong was formed by deposits of the Yellow River and is a part of the North China Plain. The Yellow River and the Emperor Canal run through the plain. It is an important agricultural area.
2. The Jiaolai Plain extends to the coast and lies between the hilly areas of south and central Shandong. The Jiaolai He, Wei He and Dage He rivers flow through this plain.
3. The mountains in central and southern Shandong consist of several mountains over 1000 meters high, such as Tai Shan, Lu Shan, Yi Shan and Meng Shan. The highest point of the province, the 1545 m high Tai Shan, is also located here.
4. The Jiaodong Hill Country consists of the Daze Shan and Kunzu Shan, which are less than 1000 meters high. It makes up a large part of the Shandong Peninsula.

Climate

Shandong has a monsoon climate of the warm temperate zone with hot, rainy summers and dry, sunny winters. There are significant climatic differences between the coastal regions and the interior. Annual average temperatures are 11 °C on the northeastern coast and 14.5 °C in the west and south. Annual precipitation is 560 mm in the northwest and 1170 mm in the southeast. As 60-70% of rainfall occurs in summer, flooding can occur and drought in other seasons.

Waters

The Yellow River has a great influence on Shandong Province, being on the one hand responsible for the alluvial plain on which most of the province lies, and on the other hand it has changed its course several times, often affecting the population of the province and their dwellings. A particularly severe flood was recorded in 1876, after tremendous rains swelled banks of lakes and rivers and inundated whole villages. This was followed by a famine in which nearly 10,000 people lost their lives. The total number of victims was almost 100,000, as the entire region was affected. Commemoration days have been held on April 30 ever since, although they have been officially banned by the government since 1976, 100 years after the disaster.

Until the 4th century BC, the Yellow River ran in several arms through what is now the province, most of these arms being north of its present course. Construction of dikes along the river began as early as about 2000 years ago, and these dikes have somewhat limited the change in the river's course, but on the other hand have exacerbated flooding when the river steps over the dikes. In the 3000 years of historical record in China, the lower reaches of the Yellow River have been flooded more than 1500 times. A significant change in the river's course occurred in 1128 when, after a major flood, the Yellow River began to flow into the Yellow Sea in northern present-day Jiangsu. In 1855, again after a catastrophic flood, the riverbed moved north again, where it had been until the 12th century and where it remains today. One consequence of this bad flood was also that the Kaiserkanal lost its navigability.

Major cities

The capital of Shandong province is Jinan, other important cities are: Jining, Tai'an, Qingdao, Weifang, Yantai and Zibo.

Administrative outline

Shandong is divided into 16 county-level cities:

• Jinan (濟南市 / 济南市, Jǐnán Shì)
• Liaocheng (聊城市, Liáochéng Shì)
• Dezhou (德州市, Dézhōu Shì)
• Dongying (東營市 / 东营市, Dōngyíng Shì)
• Zibo (淄博市, Zībó Shì)
• Weifang (濰坊市 / 潍坊市, Wéifāng Shì)
• Yantai (煙台市 / 烟台市, Yāntái Shì)
• Weihai (威海市, Wēihǎi Shì)
• Qingdao (青島市 / 青岛市, Qīngdǎo Shì)
• Rizhao (日照市, Rìzhào Shì)
• Linyi (臨沂市 / 临沂市, Línyí Shì)
• Zaozhuang (棗莊市 / 枣庄市, Zǎozhuāng Shì).
• Jining (濟寧市 / 济宁市, Jǐníng Shì)
• Tai'an (泰安市, Tài'ān Shì)
• Binzhou (濱洲市 / 滨洲市, Bīnzhōu Shì)
• Heze (荷澤市 / 荷泽市, Hézé Shì)

Largest cities

Population figures are as of the 2010 Census and refer to the urban settlement proper.