Events in Shandong

9. China (Qingzhou) Flower Expo

The China (Qingzhou) Flower Expo has been held in Qingzhou, a county-level city of Weifang, every September since 2001.

Jointly organized by the Qingzhou municipal Party committee and the Qingzhou municipal government, the expo has been one of the most renowned flower trade shows in China.

The 18th flower expo opened on Oct 7, 2018 and lasted for nine days. The total exhibition area of this expo exceeded 42,000 sq m, with more than 1,000 varieties of flowers and plants on display, including pitcher plants and Venus flytraps introduced from Malaysia and Sumatra, as well as succulent plants from South Korea, Japan and Africa. The number of visitors to the expo reached 246,000 person times, with a total transaction volume of 172 million yuan.

10. Mount Tai Shigandang Cultural Festival

The Mount Tai Shigandang cultural festival has been held annually in Tai'an, Shandong province, since 2011. It is a folk activity covering food, accommodation, transport, tourism, entertainment, shopping and religious culture.

According to legend, Shigandang was a brave, strong man from Mount Tai who was renowned for warding off evil spirits. His spirit lives on today through an ornamental stone tablet engraved with the Chinese characters of shi gan dang, which is often found erected at certain points on bridges and roads, or inlaid in the walls of houses across China.

The Shigandang custom of worshiping spiritual stones has long been a common belief for Chinese people, and was listed among the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages announced by the State Council in 2006.