Qufu Brief
Qufu is a small town, at its peak during the Zhou Dynasty (1200-221BC), it is the center of the oriental culture since the ancient times, and also an educational center. Qufu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous as the birthplace of Confucius. The place is well-known for its Confucian Temple, Confucian Forest and Confucian Mansion. Emperors of different dynasties all held grand ceremonies to offer sacrifices to Confucius when they came to Qufu. They enjoy a worldwide fame as a traditional Chinese cultural site and attract numerous tourists from both home and abroad annually.

Top Attractions

Confucian Temple: there are many Confucius temples in China, but the largest and most important one is the Confucius Temple located at Qufu, the hometown of Confucius. The temple has been the holy place for offering sacrifices to Confucius over the last 2,500 years. In total, 12 different emperors paid 20 personal visits to Qufu to worship Confucius. In 1994, UNESCO included the Confucius Temple in its list of World Heritage Sites.

Confucian Mansion: built on area of 160,000 square meters, the mansion has nine courtyards with 463 rooms along the east, west and middle routs. It is the living place of closely related descendants generation after generation. It is the largest popular mansion next to the imperial palaces of Ming and Qing Dynasty in China. No matte the construction layout or the collection of cultural relics all claim “the first mansion in the world”.

Confucian Forest: it is the oldest graves found in this location date back to the Zhou Dynasty. In this space, the tombs of more than 100,000 descendants of Confucius, who have been buried there over a period of about 2000 years, can be found. There are about 3,600 tombstones dating form the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties still standing in the cemetery, it is a large museum to show the inscription steles written by many famous calligraphists in the past. It is also renowned for its natural botanical areas, largely owing to more than 1,000 mature trees.

Recommended Tours
Qufu enjoys a convenient transportation. There is a network of railways and highway in it. The nearest airport is in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, is about 150km away from Qufu. The Confucian Temple, Confucian Mansion and Confucian Forest are the must-see in Qufu, they have listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1994. Every year from September 26 to October 10 “Qufu International Confucius Culture Festival” is sponsored here to commemorate Confucius.
(MDL-001) Ji'nan-Qufu-Mt. Tai-Qingdao+Mt. Laoshan (6 Days)
(MDL-002) Ji'nan-Qufu-Mt. Tai-Qingdao+Mt. Laoshan-Penglai-Yantai (7 Days)

Shopping & Entertainment
The major souvenirs tourists available and of interest to tourists in Qufu include wooden carvings, stone table rubbings, ink stone from Nishan Mountain, Confucian style sesame oil, and sesame food, Confucian Mansion liquor, and fragrant rice. Name seals, ink stones and dragonhead canes are popular items here, the best places to buy these are at the entrances to the major sights. Books of calligraphy copied from the different steles also make unique souvenirs.

In the recent years, more and more entertainment places appear in Qufu, such as nightclubs, cinema, and bowling-alley.