Situated in the south of Shandong province, Jining- the city well-known as "the hometown of Confucius and Mencius and the metropolis along the Grand Canal", is located in the fringe zone of four provinces: Jiangsu province, Shandong province, Henan province and Anhui province and occupies 2 city districts, 3 county-level cities, 7 counties, 1 high and new technology industrial development zone and 1 tourist resort. It covers an area of 11,000 square kilometers with a special geographic situation- the East part is situated in a mountainous area; the Midwest is located in an area combining plains, billabongs and a freshwater lake that has a water surface area of 1,260 square kilometers and that is the largest one in North China.