Geographic Location
 
Liaocheng was named the “pivot of the Canal” and the “famous city in the regions north of the Yangtze River” in history. It is the center of West Shandong, and also an important transport channel for the economic, technological and cultural exchanges with inland provinces like Shanxi and Hebei, and has easy access to the advanced technologies in the eastern coastal areas and the rich resources in China’s western regions. Hence, Liaocheng has become an important transport hub, resources base and inland port and a central city that radiates the boundary areas of Hebei, Shandong and Henan.

With Dongchangfu, Guanxian, Sinxian, Yanggu, Donge, Chiping, Gaotang, Linqing as well as the Liaocheng Opening Development Zone (including the Foreign Trade Processing Zone) in its jurisdiction, Liaocheng has a population of 5.46 million and covers 8,590 square kilometers.
 
Historical Evolution
  
Liaocheng is located in the west of Shandong with Mount Tai as its close neighbor. It is a famous historical and cultural city on the state level,one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. Early in the Neolithic Age, it had been a habitat for a clan, and a hunting place for Father Chao, and also Ruihao and king Yao passed away here; Weizi Qi, the cousin of king Zhou of Shang dynasty was honored here, which is why it was called “kingdom of Weizi”; it is known as “the remote area of kingdom Qi” in East Zhou dynasty. Since the ancient China united in the Qin dynasty, Liaocheng County has set up with a long history of over 2,200 years up to date.

For more than 5,000 years, the forefathers have created great civilization and splendid culture with sweat and intelligence, leaving their descendents many cultural heritage and scenic spots. Now there are more than 400 historical and cultural sites, including Iron Pagoda—an imposing and bold construction of Song dynasty; Guangyue Tower—a magnificent and splendid construction of Ming dynasty, with carved beams and painted rafters; Jingyang Hill—the world-famous place where Wu Song, an ancient hero, beat a tiger to death; the Lion Mansion— the former site where Xi Menqing was killed by Wu Song; Haiyuan House—one of the four great buildings for book storage in the Qing dynasty with plenty of books of excellent versions; Sarira Pagoda, old and unique in form; the Turtle-Head Rock in Linqing county, the tomb of Cao Zhi in Dong’e county, etc., which are all very prominent.

Natural Resources

There are 23 branches crossing vertically and horizontally in Liaocheng, which is known as a water city to the north of the Yangtze River. The waters, whose drainage areas are over 30 square kilometers, and 3 with drainage areas of more than 100 square kilometers. So many branches and the beautiful lake constitute a unique city pattern—a lake in the city, and a city in the lake.

Liaocheng is rich in mineral resources such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, limestone, gypsum and iron. The terrestrial heat is another resource with great developing potential. Liaocheng is also rich in water resource with the Tuhai and Maxia rivers, the Grand Canal and the Yellow River Irrigation canals. The city is one of the important production and processing bases of commodity grains, high-quality cotton, vegetable, fruits, livestock and other agricultural by-products in the country.

Liaocheng enjoys fertile land, pleasant weather and plenty of sunshine. It has easy transport, developed communications, booming science and technology as well as colorful art and literature. Thanks to its nice environment, the city was one of the advanced cities of Shandong in terms of sanitary conditions. With annual sunshine between 2,463-2,741 hours and non-frost period of 200 days, the city enjoys a pleasant weather.

With the completion of such facilities as centralized heating and gas supply and the renovation projects for the Dongchang Lake, the Grand Canal and the Tuhai River, Liaocheng has achieved great progress in civil construction. The Water City North of the Yangtze welcomes guests from the rest of the world with its own characteristics.