Linyi is located southeast of Shandong Province, bordered by Jiangsu Province to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the east. It has 9 counties, 3 districts and 3 economic development zones with a total population of 10,810,000 and a total area of 17,200 square kilometers. Both its population and area rank the first in Shandong Province.
Recently, Linyi has won many honorary titles such as “National Civilized City”, “A National Double-Support Exemplary City”, “China Tourist City”, “National Garden City”, “National Exemplary City for Environmental Protection”, “National Sanitation City” and “National Forest City”. It is also named as “China Calligraphy City”, “China Geothermal City”, “China Market Town” and “China Capital City of Logistics”. What’s more, it was awarded one of the “60 model cities in urban development of China” by National Bureau of Statistics on the 60th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in 2009 and ranked second among 294 cities in urban people’s happiness index released by a survey conducted by Chinese Academy of Science in 2011.
Tracing back to 2500 years ago, Linyi City was first built during the Spring and Autumn Period, named Qiyang at that time. In Qin Dynasty, it came into the domain of Langya County. The Emperor of Han Dynasty made it Linyi County for the first time. Qing Dynasty witnessed the foundation of Yizhou Prefecture. Endowed with a long history and rich culture, Linyi has bred many outstanding cultural celebrities at all times.
