Three-Day Tour: A Spring City Narrative from Dawn to Dusk
【Spring City Jinan: Gathering a Thousand Years of Life and Poetry Among Green Bricks and Blue Waves】
On first arriving in Jinan, I was captivated by the temperament of the old city—she is like an old man holding a folding fan, whose sleeves shake off not dust, but the interwoven rhythm of a thousand years of spring and the life of the common people. Follow this guide to enter Lao She's "artwork of God," and encounter the romance hidden in the folds of time in the gurgling sound of the springs.
🌊 A Humanistic Scroll Woven by Springs
"See the World in a Pool of Clear Spring"
- Baotu Spring: A Thousand Years of Soliloquy of Three Springs
Enter the garden at the first light of dawn, the bluestone road still stained with dew, and the three clear springs have been gurgling for a thousand years. Lean on the railing by the Snow Wave Pavilion, watch the water droplets dance a waltz on the lotus leaves, and listen to the opera from the Lixia Pavilion echoing the sound of the spring. In a trance, the ancients' exclamation of "the source of the spring is rising, and the water is surging like a wheel" is slowly emerging from the depths of history.
- Thousand Buddha Mountain: A Dialogue Through Time and Space in the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave
There is no need to rush when climbing the Thousand Buddha Mountain. The Bodhisattvas with lowered eyebrows on the cliffside stone carvings along the way seem to be telling the story of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The Ten Thousand Buddha Cave brings together the essence of the Buddha statues of Dunhuang and Longmen. The light and shadow fall through the cracks in the top of the cave, giving the Buddha statues a flowing texture. When you climb to the top of the Viewing Pavilion, the city of Jinan spreads out at your feet, and the high-rise buildings and the flying eaves of the temple complement each other, which is the gentlest embrace of the city and the mountains and forests.
- Daming Lake: Homes Among the Lotus Flowers
If it is high summer, the lake is full of blooming lotus flowers, with pink and white petals stained with water droplets, and even the air is filled with sweetness. Take a painted boat through the reed beds and listen to the boatman humming "Jasmine Flower." Suddenly, I understand why Emperor Qianlong wrote by the lake, "Sitting in the Lixia Pavilion to admire the ancient times, leaning on the railing between the water and clouds"—the romance here is a brocade woven by the lake and legends.
"The Breathing and Heartbeat of the Old Streets"
- QuShuiTing Street: A Poem of Life by the Flowing Water
The bluestone road has been polished brightly by the years, and streams of water flow in front of every house. Occasionally, residents squat on the stone steps to wash chives. When the water droplets splash, they startle the sparrows perched on the stone railings. Find a riverside teahouse to sit down, watch the white-haired old man drop his pieces on the chessboard, and listen to tourists from the north and south exclaiming in dialect, "There is more life here than in Jiangnan."
- Furong Street: The Spring City Code on the Tip of the Tongue
Turning across the stone bridge of QuShuiTing Street, the life suddenly becomes too strong to dissolve. The oil swirl shop is crowded with diners. The master picks up the dough and wraps it around two or three times, and throws it into the pot, and the aroma of scallions rises. In the braised pork shop, the fat and lean pieces of meat bubble in the soy sauce. With a bowl of fragrant rice, it is the most comforting comfort for the old Jinan people. Remember to buy a skewer of tea soup and watch the stall owner pour out snowflakes with a dragon-mouth copper pot. This is a sweet memory of childhood.
🍽️ The Taste Code in Old Brands
- Braised Pork|Fat But Not Greasy
The square-shaped streaky pork is stewed until soft in the old soup, and the chopsticks tremble when poked lightly. The fat seeps into the lean meat, and the salty aroma is slightly sweet. With tofu and tiger skin eggs that have absorbed the soup, you have to add another bowl of rice—this is the hardcore breakfast that Jinan people have engraved in their DNA.
- Oil Swirl|Layers of Crispy Carbohydrate Romance
The spiral-shaped pancake sizzles in oil on the pot, sprinkled with chopped green onions and pepper salt, and the edges are grilled until golden and upturned. Take a bite, and thousands of layers of crispy crust fall off, and the aroma of green onions mixed with the aroma of wheat explodes on the tip of your tongue. With a cup of fragrant tea brewed with Baotu Spring, it is the standard afternoon tea for old tea drinkers.
- Sweet Semolina|Taste Contrast in the Name
Don't be fooled by the name. This bowl of gray salty porridge is the soul of Jinan people's morning. Millet noodles are the base, floating with fried tofu, vermicelli, and spinach, sprinkled with white pepper, and drunk hot, warming from the stomach to the toes, and even the morning mist dissipates a bit.
Day 1|Spring Vein Trail
Baotu Spring Park (watch the spring surge in the morning and taste the poetic charm of Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall) → Five Dragon Pool (see the clear blue waters of Qin Qiong's former residence) → Kuanhouli (stroll through the blue brick courtyard in the evening, taste Jiuzhuan Dachang and stir-fried pork loin at "Old Archway", and watch the intangible cultural heritage shadow puppets sway in the lights).
Day 2|Lake and Lane
Daming Lake (take a painted boat to tour the lake and climb the Chaoran Building to see the gilded moment of the "First Building in Jiangbei") → QuShuiTing Street (wear Hanfu to take pictures of the flowing water, and drink a bowl of tea at "Qifeng Bridge No. 8") → Furong Street (eat from the beginning of the street to the end of the alley, and carry a bag of oil swirls to Wangfu Pool to watch the locals swim in winter).
Day 3|Dialogue Between Mountain and City
Thousand Buddha Mountain (climb 800 steps in the morning and watch the morning light kiss the Buddha statue in the Maitreya Scenic Area) → Spring City Square (watch the 120m music fountain dance with the blue sky and white clouds in the afternoon, and when night falls, the lights flow on the "Spring Standard", and even the evening breeze carries the coolness of the spring water).
🏨 Sleep by the Spring: Live in the Heartbeat of the City
The first choice is around Spring City Square, within walking distance of Baotu Spring and Daming Lake, and you can see the city landmarks when you open the window. After watching the fountain show at night, turn into a small alley to eat a bowl of braised pork with sweet semolina, and listen to the old Jinan people chatting in a dialect with a "salty" accent, which is truly living in the life of the spring city.
The beauty of Jinan lies in the fact that she has brewed history into spring water and kneaded poetry into the streets. When you step on the bluestone slabs in QuShuiTing Street and take the lotus flowers handed over by the flower-selling old man by the Baotu Spring, you will understand that the so-called life and poetic romance are never two separate ends, but like spring water and the city, they have long been brewed into each other's bones and blood in a thousand years of time.