The Shandong reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
(provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Shandong

Shandong (Simplified Chinese: 山东, Traditional: 山東, Hanyu Pinyin: Shāndōng, formerly transliterated in Wade-Giles romanization as: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. Located in the lower reaches of the Huang He (Yellow River), it borders on the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

山东省/山東省
Shāndōng Shěng
Province Abbreviation(s): 鲁 (Lǔ)
Capital Jinan
Area
 - Total
 - % water
Ranked 19th
156,700 km²
xx%
Population
 - Total (end of 2001)
 - Density
Ranked 2nd
90,410,000
591/km²
Administration Type Province
Image:China provinces shandong.png

Table of contents
1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Demographics
5 Culture
6 Tourism
7 Miscellaneous topics
8 External links

History

Shandong became a province during the Ming dynasty.

Qingzhou used to be its capital.

In 412, the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian landed at Laoshan, on the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to Qingzhou to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought back from India.

In 1996, the discovery of over 200 buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major archaeological find. The statues included early examples of painted figures, and are thought to have been buried due to Emperor Huizong's Song Dynasty repression of Buddhism (he favoured Taoism).

Geography

Neighboring provinces: Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and Hebei.

Shandong is located in the lower reaches of the Huang He (Yellow River). It borders on the Bohai Gulf and the Yellow Sea. Coastline: 3,000 km.

The Grand Canal of China flows through Shandong.

Major cities:

Other geographical features include:

Economy

Shandong ranks first among the provinces in the production of a variety of products, including cotton and wheat as well as precious metals such as gold and diamonds.

Demographics

Culture

Tourism

Miscellaneous topics

Colleges and universities

External links


Province-level Divisions of Mainland China
Provinces: Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunnan | Zhejiang
Autonomous Regions: Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet | Xinjiang
Municipalities: Beijing | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin