Day 1 Check in to designated hotel in Jinan All day gathering day
All day
Today is a full-day gathering day in Jinan. We especially recommend the following areas for you to choose from and get to know the beauty of Jinan for the first time.
Recommended activities: A half-day CW experience at Jinan Thousand Buddha Mountain. You can visit the recently opened "Four Caves and Vientiane" Grottoes Art Exhibition Center. Although it is a replica of the Buddha statue grottoes, it is a unique experience to be able to see all four major Buddhist caves at once.
The CW route from Daming Lake to Baihuazhou, Qushuiting Street to Furong Street, connects the spring landscapes of Jinan's old city. There are many famous attractions and shops selling delicious food, intangible cultural heritage and handmade products along the way. The Chaoran Building is lit up at night and is worth checking out, enriching the half-day time on the gathering day.
Day 2 Jinan - Lingyan Temple - Tai'an
·morning
At 9:00 we set off from Jinan Hotel and headed to our first stop of the day, Lingyan Temple, which became popular because of the Black Myth.
Legend has it that the Tang Dynasty monk Lang Gong preached here and the rocks nodded in response, hence the name "Lingyan". We searched for the same filming location as Black Monkey King here and breathed freely in the quiet mountains and forests.
·afternoon
Around 13:00, we continued to the Taishan area.
Arriving at the foot of Mount Tai, we checked into the Zen Hotel. The garden-style hotel is particularly suitable for meditation. In the afternoon, we changed into yoga clothes and went to the teacher to learn the art of incense. We calmly experienced the incense seal, relaxing and starting our journey of meditation.
Then, we will study the tea ceremony in the tea room, and immerse ourselves in the oriental aesthetic tea-making process to appreciate the charm of Song Dynasty tea-making. Through the high-end oriental aesthetic treatment, we can cultivate our body and mind away from the hustle and bustle.
From adding tea - pouring soup - preparing paste - pouring soup - whisking - adding soup and whisking - whisking lightly to make it fine - painting on the tea - and ending with making tea.
After the afternoon meditation activity, we returned to the room to rest for a while. In the evening, a special health-preserving herbal dinner was arranged. After the meal, we took a meditation course in the meditation room.
Day 3: 1-day light hike on Mount Tai - Tai'an Hotel
All day
We need to get up early this morning and follow the teacher to do the Ba Duan Jin morning exercise. With every breath, we can make our bodies healthier.
Ba Duan Jin is a fitness method that cultivates both the inside and the outside, and is a positive lifestyle.
Each move harmonizes yin and yang, unclogs the meridians, and enhances the functions of our internal organs.
With every breath, adjust your mindset, focus on the present, and enhance your body's immunity.
After morning exercise, we set out from the hotel and headed for Tianwai Village, then took Jingjiao to Zhongtianmen for hiking. We chose the Houshan Imperial Road route, which took about three hours on a gentle slope to reach the top of the mountain.
After having a vegetarian meal at the top of the mountain, we visited the Bixia Temple and then took the cable car down the mountain.
After returning to the hotel in the evening, we first took a relaxing bath and changed clothes, and then had a special dinner of mountain delicacies. After dinner, we burned incense and meditated, and experienced calligraphy copying.
After copying the scriptures, we had tea in the Zen courtyard at night and started a starry night talk.
Day 4 Tai'an - Qufu - Confucius Temple - Confucius Mansion - Nishan Bible - Quli Guesthouse
·morning
We left Tai'an early this morning and headed for Qufu.
After arriving in Qufu around 10:00, we headed to the Confucius Temple.
As the founder of Confucianism, Confucius had a profound influence on Chinese culture. In the Han Dynasty, there was also a doctrine that advocated the rejection of all other schools of thought and the exclusive promotion of Confucianism.
We followed the lecturer for an in-depth tour of the Confucius Temple, focusing on the Xingtan and Dacheng Hall. The Confucius Temple, a historical dictionary that translates space into time, is filled with 2,000 years of praise. Emperors of every dynasty, whether active or passive, have inscribed their names on the stone tablets, as if playing a well-known game. You can see the edicts of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the bestowals of Emperor Hongwu. You'll be struck by this 2,000-year-old game of passing the parcel.
After visiting the Confucius Temple and Confucius Mansion, we went to Quli Guesthouse to check in.
·afternoon
After lunch, we plan to head to Nishan Holy Land at 14:00
The Nishan Sacred Land offers many worthy experiences, creating a fantasy world of Chinese history spanning the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty. A truly Chinese aesthetic!
The 60-minute performance of "Golden Voice and Jade Resonance" is an art drama with sound, light, electricity and dynamic numbers, themed on Chinese ritual and music culture. It is definitely worth seeing!
Hand-copying the Analects, writing classic chapters, feeling the Confucian culture, and accepting cultural influence, this is also the highest realm of diligent learning and writing;
The Holy Show of Mount Nishan, a light and water show composed of light and shadow, water curtain, fountain, fireworks and drones, makes the holy land of Mount Nishan even more dazzling under the starry sky.
After watching the holy show, we returned to Queli Guesthouse. After dinner, we were free to do whatever we wanted and we could also do some personal meditation in our rooms.
Day 5 Confucius Forest-Jinan Disbandment
All day
Today we woke up early and did a five sense exercise in the hotel to appreciate nature.
After breakfast, we checked out and went to Confucius Forest for a hiking tour. We chose to hike instead of taking the scenic bus so that we could slow down and observe carefully.
Although more than 100,000 descendants of the Kong clan are buried here and there are nearly 100,000 tombs, one does not feel eerie or scary when traveling among them. Instead, one feels the tranquility of "the stream flows silently around the bamboos, and the flowers and plants to the west of the bamboos are gentle in spring."
If you go deep into it, you can walk into the grass and get close to the stone statues that are hundreds of years old. That wonderful dialogue with history is a rare experience.
After strolling in the Confucius Forest, we returned to Jinan.
On the way back, we shared everyone’s practice notes and felt the beauty of life together.
Estimated arrival time: 14:00. Transfer to Jinan Station/Jinan West Station to conclude the trip.
