Your visit to Confucius’ hometown will not be complete without a formal Confucius meal. This may not require you to empty your wallet. Historical recipes are kept well preserved to ensure its authenticity. Confucius uses meal time to preach his doctrines of seniority. The best examples are table seating, toast sequence, speech expectation, and table manners. Watch your Chinese host before eying for your own seat at the table. You may have to be on your feet again.

Maji Roast Chicken is a well-known local food brand in Jiaxiang County. It taste is crispy, tender, and unique flavor in the meat that it intoxicates food lovers from afar. You will never miss the Maji Roast Chicken. However, the “devil lies in the detail” is true here. One brand, one store, one family heritage. Find out what that could be. They do not save mail orders. Only available in-store.

The QSH cake is a must-stop at the Nanyang Village. The shop owner Kong (56) started working here when he was 17 years old. There are over 100 types of cake varieties. Do not miss the “Jing8” sets.

While visiting theme park, do not miss the twice per day shows. They have archery range and chariot cart rides that pass wax model of the city and people back in the era. Ticket are 60 RMB. Suggest to utilize an English interpreter for hire at the gate.

Baoxiang Temple lies in the township of Wenshang. It is well known for its Song Dynasty era architecture. On March 15, 1994, 141 Buddhist Buddha’s tooth and other relic were found in the Palace of Linzong tower. It has been confirmed the supreme Sakyamuni Buddha’s tooth were kept here. This had sent shocking waves across circles of Buddhism. Baoxiang Temple is thus branded as the “Second Famen Temple” in China.

Mt Yi itself has beautiful landscape. Merely 10 kilometer away from Qufu, Mt. Yi is a hiking spot. Along the designated hiking trail, you can see over 300 pieces of historical calligraphy inscriptions along the “Trail of History”.

According to legend, Confucius was born about 30 km southeast of Qufu, in a cave at Mt. Nishan. As a modern way to honor Confucius, the Nishan Sacred Land Attraction Park opened on Sep 28th, 2018, Confucius’ birthday. The centerpiece of the attraction is the world’s largest Confucius statue, made of bronze standing tall at 72 meters.

Nanyang Ancient Town of Weishan County sits in the half way of China’s Grand Canal – the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the longest and oldest canal in the world (1790 kilometers). The middle points secured the prosperity of the town and had hosted two emperors from Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qian Long (1711-1799) and Emperor Kang Xi (1654-1722).

This is a contemporary resort of 7.3 sq km surrounded by 200 km mountain ranges. It is 36 km away from Qufu bullet train station from there you can reach Beijing in 2 hours and reach Jinan in 31 minutes. There are 26 lakes, over 200 varieties of plants, miles of biking, hiking, walking trails, 9 “townships” consisting of five-star hotels, American and European style townhomes for rental and/or purchase, camping sites, RV sites, cabins, mobile homes, and water cabins. This is an ideal place to be totally immersed in nature.

Located in Yanzhou City, which is 20 minutes by car from Qufu’s bullet train station, stands this grand Buddhist-themed, contemporary architectural marvel will render you speechless. The ripple-less pond in front of the building symbolizes the peace of mind in meditation; the grand four Buddhas facing each direction in the 118 m tall temple conveys the supremacy of Buddhist power. Content displayed explains the belief of all branches of Buddhism; the artwork of paintings, sculptures, and embroideries inside are works of nationally acclaimed artists.

Weishan Lake is the largest fresh water lake in northern China. It is about 16,000 acres and the Grand Canal of China runs through the lake. At the northern end of the lake, you will find Mt. Liang. This is the place where the story of a 108 legendary heroes, are depicted vividly in China’s top master novel, the Outlaws of Marshall. The government funds heritage projects like these to protect this glorified saga. Weishan Lake is also a heroic place for China’s guerrilla warfare against the Japanese invasion in World War II.

It is the largest family cemetery in the world, with over 10,000 tombs in the 200,000 m2 area. Only the eldest son of the male descendants of the Kong family earns the right to be buried in this cemetery, and it continues to grow. So far, there are no female tombs burials allowed at the cemetery. Close to Confucius’ tomb are his son and grandson’s tomb. We can see a tree planted by Zigong, the most dedicated apprentice of Confucius, and a hut where he spent 6 years in mourning of his teacher’s death.

Previously a residence, now converted to a huge temple compound commemorating the life of Confucius in 478 BC. In 140 AD, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty adopted the idea to “abolish all, but Confucianism”. It was suggested by scholar Dongzhongshu, a Confucius’ loyalist. The Confucius Temple has retained its sacredness until 1911 when China became a Republic. As you step into the courtyard, a huge apricot tree that appears out of nowhere will catch your glimpse first. This is the place where Confucius is said to have preached to 3,000 of his disciples.

The official mansion with family living quarters. It is the mansion of Yansheng Dukes, the oldest male direct descendants of Confucius. This title and rank were conferred, by Emperors, to the direct descendants of Confucius out of respect to him. The Confucius Mansion is the largest family mansion and the 2nd largest building cluster in China, after the Palace Museum in Beijing. Through routine expansion since the Ming Dynasty, it now has 9 rows of courtyards, 480 rooms, totaling 1.2 km2 in size.

The Liangshan Yellow River Fish Catching Festival is held at every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in the two weeks from July 15th to August 30th. The theme of this event is to give teenagers the experience and fun of catching fishes by hand naturally, and give adults a time to recall their childhood times.

Fluorescent Night Run, the most shining 5 kilometer race on the earth. This is a party run, flanked by bars, snack stops, etc. People are dressed in their own crazy ways. Best event to run a race.

The Qufu International Confucius Culture Festival is held on every September 28th. This is the official birthday of Confucius. Confucius was very humble. He called himself the “teacher”. And coincidentally, China’s national Teacher’s Day was thus set on Confucius’ birthday. The Chinese people, like the people of the world, respect teachers. Huge respects are given to all teachers even if you have been a teacher for a day. If in China, and you are not sure what title to call someone, you can always say teacher XXX (eg. Jack Ma called himself Teacher Ma). Try for yourself if you are planning a trip Qufu on that day. You will not regret it.