Current Time in Jining, China

Jining lies in the south-west of Shandong Province in eastern China, on the flat North China Plain where the Grand Canal crosses the province. The prefecture it governs contains more than eight million people, with well over a million in the urban districts, and it is one of the most historically significant regions in the country.

This is the homeland of Confucius. The philosopher was born about 551 BC at Nishan, south-east of the modern city, and lived and taught in the state of Lu, whose capital was Qufu, now a county-level city under Jining. The temple, cemetery and family mansion of Confucius in Qufu form one of China's greatest monumental complexes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose halls, stelae and ancient cypresses have been maintained and enlarged by successive dynasties for more than two thousand years. Nearby Zoucheng preserves the equivalent temple and cemetery of Mencius, the second great Confucian thinker.

Jining's other historical claim is the Grand Canal. From the Yuan dynasty onwards the canal carried grain from the Yangtze delta to the imperial capitals, and Jining stood at its most difficult section, where engineers had to lift water over the summit of the route. The Ming dynasty water divide works at Nanwang, an achievement of hydraulic engineering, allowed the canal to function for centuries, and the city became the headquarters of canal administration, earning it the nickname of the canal capital. Merchants, officials and boatmen made Jining prosperous, and sections of the waterway and its warehouses have been restored as heritage sites.

Other attractions in the prefecture include the Han dynasty stone carvings of the Wu family shrines at Jiaxiang, among the finest examples of early Chinese pictorial art; Weishan Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northern China, famous for lotus blossoms, fishing villages and reed marshes; and Liangshan, the marshy hill country that provides the setting for the classic novel Water Margin, with its outlaw heroes.

The modern economy rests on coal, which is mined extensively across the region and supplies one of China's largest coal enterprises, alongside machinery manufacture, particularly bulldozers and construction equipment, chemicals, paper and agriculture. Jinxiang county in the prefecture is the centre of China's garlic trade, exporting enormous quantities worldwide, and wheat, maize and cotton fill the plains.

Transport is excellent. High-speed trains on the Beijing to Shanghai line stop at Qufu, expressways cross the region, an airport serves the prefecture, and the Grand Canal remains navigable southwards, making Jining a busy inland port linked to the Yangtze.

Several universities and colleges operate here, including a medical university, a teachers university named for Qufu and institutions focused on engineering and mining.

For anyone interested in Chinese thought, imperial engineering or classical literature, Jining is one of the most rewarding destinations in the country.