Steles, Steps and Scholars

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A very fast ferry carrying about 500 passengers glided us effortlessly through hot mist on a calm Yellow sea from Dalian towards Yantai in 3 .5 hours. Once arrived I decided to stretch the legs and give the taxis a miss and walk to our hotel... 30mins later we checked in! Yantai is famous for having the first and oldest winery which makes Changyu wine, we've tasted it when we did a tour at the Culture museum - not bad.
There's not a great deal to do in the city, but we found a piece of green for a walk and some exercise to train us for our big climb in Tai'an. Nasham Park is just like most chinese city parks,but this one backs onto some hills which had numerous tracks up to pavillions. We chose one which had good steps,1200 of them.
To get to Jinan from Yantai we could of chosen a train which would of taken 7.5 hrs but, for a change, we took a bus which was plush and quick. 5.5 hrs in a coach which has 3 seats across, lots of room and films too. Jinan has a population of 2 million so we just stayed one night at the Railway Hotel before taking another bus(this time a lot smaller and uncomfortable)to Tia'an about 2 hrs south. We based ourselves at the Taishan Hotel,100m alt. 500m away from the start of the Tai Shan Sacred Mountain which has been climbed by emperors and peasants since 219BC. This place is the hill to climb in China if your Chinese and brings luck to you when you pass through the Gate to Heaven. We took 8 hrs to do the 15km/1534m/7000 steps there and back.We're paying for it now with aching limbs. They have a counter at each of the 3 routes.At the end of our day about 7000 people had been up. But for the lazy there is a bus and cable car combination.There was lots of beautiful temples dotted along the trail and a 3 star hotel at the top too!
Going down was hot and hard going but achieving a "munro" in China was easier because there are steps all the way to the summit.
Our next town was Qufu pronounced sheefoo. This town is where the Kong family lived, Confusius was a Kong. Another bus journey which were deteriorating in comfort. An hour on a bumpy road sorted our stiff muscles from the walk. We stayed in the old walled town of Qufu at the International YHostel, very nice and comfortable. We met a few folk which helped with our plans for the next 4 weeks in China.
Some culture on the agenda, we took a pedicab(bike with two seats on the back) to the Confuscius Forest where he is buried. Quite creepy especially with the Confucius Herons watching us in the woods.
On the second day in Qufu we followed the tourist route to Confucius Temple full of old Cypress trees, then to the Confucius Mansions which has about 450 rooms to explore. It was hard in the 37C heat, but that night it started to rain and has'nt stopped for 24hrs,its much fresher now,see photo of bike taken today.
We're off by sleeper(15 hrs) tommorow(2nd july) to Xian to see the Terracotta Army then we're flying to Chengdu south to save some time, this place is huge. After that who knows wait and see...

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Photos

Jade Temple
This temple is at the summit 1534m.

A Stele- Song Dynasty
Often with a giant turtle at the base and a slab of stone inscribed with all who lived here etc.

Rain at last
In Shandong province they were needing it.