Shandong · China
Where to stay in Jinan
Jinan is a city in Shandong, China, home to about 9,202,000 people.
- Best months
- April, May, September and October
- Nearest airport
- TNA30 km · Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport
- Currency
- CNYrenminbi
- Time zone
- Asia/Shanghai
- Language
- Chinese, Putonghua, Standard Chinese
About
About Jinan
Jinan is the capital of the Shandong province in Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population.
Jinan has four well-defined seasons: spring is dry, summer is hot and wet, autumn is crisp and winter is dry and cold with little snow. The Yellow River basin was China's cultural centre during the Neolithic period, and so it comes as no surprise that the area around present day Jinan has been inhabited for over 4,000 years. The oldest finds in the region are from the Longshan culture (roughly 3,000-2,000 BCE), a Late Neolithic culture noted for its advanced black 'egg-shell pottery', sometimes as thin as a millimetre.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Jinan
See
Travellers on a short trip to Jinan are likely to gain most by focusing on the city center, particularly the north-south stretch from Daming Lake through Quancheng Square to Qianfo Mountain, and by adding a trip to the City Government District if time permits. While many museums are free to visit it is always recommended to carry identification such as a passport or risk being refused entry. Nationally-famous Daming Lake is an icon of Jinan, a AAAAA attraction, and must-see for visitors.
- Confucius Culture Museum
- Daming Lake Park
- Jinan Old Town
- Memorial Temple of Xin Qiji
- Minghu Art Gallery
- Baotu Spring Park
- Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall
- Li Kuchan Memorial Hall
- Wang Xuetao Memorial Hall
- Black Tiger Spring
- Five Dragon Pool Park
- Laoshe Memorial Hall
Do
- Jinan International Convention & Exhibition Center
- Minghu Ju
- Shandong Acrobatics Troupe Theatre
- Shandong Grand Theatre Opera Hall
- Huashan Lake walking trail
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Which part of Jinan to stay in
There are plenty of places to choose from in the ¥200 range. There is a complex of fancy hotels in the swank SE of the city at the end of Lishan Lu, which are all surprisingly affordable for what they are, considering they have beautiful grounds, five-star services and facilities, etc., for maybe US$70–80. There are also hotels at the transport nexus at the train station, but that's a little removed from the sites.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Jinan
15 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Atour Hotel (Ji'nan Yingxiongshan Road) | 5.9 km | |
| Atour Hotel (Jinan Olympic Center) | 13.6 km | |
| Blue Horizon Hotel (Jinan Lichengstore ) | 8.9 km | |
| Holiday Inn Express Jinan High-Tech Zone | 14.0 km | |
| Intercontinental Jinan City Center | 4.4 km | |
| Inzone Garland Hotel Jinan | 2.2 km | |
| Nishi Haitai Hotel | 8.8 km | |
| Nishi Hotel | 9.5 km | |
| Prestton Hotel | 14.1 km | |
| Scholars Hotel (Jinan High-tech Wanda Exhibition Center) | 13.3 km | |
| Shandong East Hotel (Dongfang Dasha) | 2.0 km | |
| Shangri-La Jinan | 4.0 km | |
| ShunHe International Hotel (tian xi) | 1.7 km | |
| Sofitel Jinan Silver Plaza Hotel | 4.7 km | |
| Zhonghao Grand Hotel | 5.3 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Jinan
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Jinan are April, May, September and October. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; August is the wettest, with about 172 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Jinan: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA), about 30 km from the city centre in a straight line; Jining Da'an Airport (JNG, 115 km) is also within reach.
Getting in
Jinan is the hub of traffic for the region and province so you'll likely end up here if heading elsewhere in Shandong, notably Qingdao and Yantai. High speed rail runs on both north-south and east-west lines through Jinan. You can fly to Jinan, but the airport is 40 km northeast of downtown. A taxi will take an hour and cost about ¥150. A shuttle bus travels between the airport and downtown hourly from 06:00 to 17:00. It takes just as long and costs ¥20. A subroute of bus 16 also goes to the airport. You can find flights from most major cities. Shandong Airlines is the major carrier.
Getting around
Jinan is a very large city and travelling by public transport is very difficult for non-Chinese speakers, with the exception of the Jinan Metro. Buses are ¥1, or ¥2 for air-conditioned. Buses that begin with K or B are supposedly air-conditioned and even if the a/c is off or not working. ¥1 (no a/c) buses are quite rare and only serve specific lines. You may be charged a discounted price if you use the transit cards, you can get these cards at a bus service center or on Apple Pay. Most buses with two digits serve the central city.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
TNA · Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport
JNG · Jining Da'an Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Jinan
Eat
Opportunities to eat in Jinan are plentiful; from luxury restaurants to farmers cooking at the road side, you will find an enormous variety of prices and standards. The majority of traditional restaurants may be difficult for non-Chinese speakers who will at the best need to choose by pointing at pictures in a menu; more convenient options for these visitors include canteens, food halls, and restaurants within shopping centers and hotels. The cuisine of Shandong province (known in Mandarin as LuCai) is one of China's eight great culinary traditions and many restaurants will have dishes to sample, unfortunately a non-Chinese speaker may again face difficulties identifying these.
Drink
Jinan has few pubs and nightclubs in the Western sense; alcohol is mostly drunk either with dinner in restaurants or around miniature chairs and tables outside at either night time street barbecues or small beer shops which serve light snacks. Lighter drinks can be found at tea houses, bubble tea shops and the growing number of coffee shops. Western travelers will find branches of Starbucks and Costa Coffee at shopping mall locations throughout the city as well as multiple outlets of the established Chinese UBC Coffee chain.
Stay safe
Jinan is a very safe city, the people of Shandong are famously known as friendly throughout China. The city centre and other commercial areas are safe to walk around until late at night; there will be large numbers of people going about their business until around 22:00 from which time the streets quite quickly empty. While special precautions need not be taken, as with any other city travellers should be sensible, avoid dark streets and walking around alone after the streets become quiet.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Jinan: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Jinan?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Jinan are April, May, September and October. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; August is the wettest, with about 172 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Jinan?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA), about 30 km from the city centre in a straight line; Jining Da'an Airport (JNG, 115 km) is also within reach.
What currency is used in Jinan?
renminbi (CNY).
Nearby
Destinations near Jinan
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.