Zibo

Zibo (pronounced [tsɨ́pwǒ]; Chinese: 淄博) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.

Located in the centre of Shandong, Zibo is an important transportation hub. Zibo governs 5 districts (Zhangdian, Zichuan, Boshan, Zhoucun and Linzi) and each of these districts has a distinct downtown area of its own. The T-shaped city has a total area of 5,938 km² (2,293 sq mi), including the counties of Huantai, Gaoqing, and Yiyuan. Zibo's total population was 4.53 million at the 2010 census, of which 3,633,239 inhabitants lived in the built-up area made of 5 urban districts (metro area) plus Huantai county largely being built. The built-up area is being conurbated with Zouping County in Binzhou municipality. Zibo was the centre of the ancient State of Qi, whose capital Linzi was the most populous city in the east about 3000 years ago. Zibo is the birthplace of ancient football Cuju, which according to FIFA, was the earliest form of the sport. Pu Songling, a well-known writer of the Qing Dynasty, is one of the most famous people from Zibo. As the birthplace of Qi Culture and because of the abundant natural resources, it is an excellent tourist city in China.