Baotu Spring Park Part 2

The spring water feeds into a rectangular spring pool that extends 30 meters from east to west and 18 meters from north to south. The spring pool is surrounded by historical structures such as the Leyuan (or Luoyuan) Hall (Song Dynasty, to the north of the spring), the Guanlan Pavilion (Ming Dynasty, west of the spring), and the Laihe Bridge (built during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, east of the spring). Closeby, on the shore of the spring's runoff stands the Wangheting Teahouse.

Other noteworthy structures are the Banbi Corridor and the Waterside Chamber. The largest architectural ensemble is the 10,000 Bamboo Garden. It comprises 186 buildings arranged around 13 courtyards as well as four pavilions and five bridges. Orginially built during the Yuan Dynasty, it served as the home to a famous poet. In 1912, Zhang Hauizhi, a commander of the local army who later became governor of Shandong Province bought the garden and kept enlarging it from 1912 to 1927. Other gardens within the park are the Whanzhu Garden, the Cang Garden (with the memorial to Wang Xuetao), the Luoyuan Garden, the Hundred Flowers Garden, and the (May 3rd Massacre) Memorial Garden.

First Spring under the Heaven

Baotu Spring has been a recurring subject of classic Chinese literature and has been written about by authors such as Zeng Gong (Song Dynasty), Zhao Mengfu (Yuan Dynasty), and Pu Songling (Qing Dynasty). The spring was visited by the emperors Kang Xi and Qian Long who left inscriptions at the site. Qian Long conferred on it the honorary title "First Spring under the Heaven".

The Baotu Spring public park also houses memorials to the local painters Li Kuchan (1898-1983) and Wang Xuetao (1903-1982) as well as to the poet Li Qingzhao. The latter has a memorial hall set in a traditional courtyard dedicated to her.

The Baotu Spring is the site of an annual lantern festival (starts on the Chinese New Year day and lasts for one month, and a chrysanthemum show (since the 1970's, held from the end of October to the end of November.

A local beer brand ("Baotu Quan" beer produced by Jinan Beer Group Corporation) is named after the spring and said to be brewed with water from the spring.

What's more, the traditional and

very popular Lantern Festival and Chrysanthemum Show are also held here every year, which greatly highlights the cultural significance and importance of this beautiful and very impressive scenic spot. There's no doubt that visitor's will be struck with this very memorable place.