Diocese of Jinan
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Jinan Diocese covers 7 cities, 3 counties and manages 1 county city including: Shizhong District, Lixia District, Tianqiao District, Huaiyin District, Licheng District, Zhangqing District, Gaoxin District, Pingyin District, Jiyang District, Shanghe County and Zhangyiu City


In Jinan metropolis, the population is 5,900,000 at the end of 2004, with a total of 2.54 million living in urban areas. (The population of the whole country is 1.31 billion in 2006). Jinan's population is predominantly Han (98.3%), with very small portions of Hui and Manchu Chinese. There are 55 ethnic minorities in China. Among them the ethnicity of Zhuang is the largest with more than 16 million. Jinan has a significant Muslim community centered in the city's Muslim quarter, located to the west of the historical center. Since the 5th century, Buddhism had flourished in Jinan.


The younger people of Jinan are more likely to speak standard Mandarin, whereas many older residents retain strong local dialect elements in their speech.


When it was in 1636, Jesuit priest Father Nicholas Longobardi came to Jinan and he was the first missioner here. Jinan Reduccione was under the jurisdiction of Diocese of Macau and later Nanjing Apostolic Prefecture. In 1690, Beijing Diocese was erected and Jinan Reduccione came under the administration of Beijing.

After the death of Bishop Cayetano Pires Pireira, Apostolic Administrator from Beijing Diocese, Pope Gregorius XVI set up the Apostolate Vicariate of Shandong and appointed Father Bishop Lodovico Maria (dei Conti) Besi to be the first vicar in 1839. In 1848, a seminary was set up in Shandong for priestly formation. In 1863, the chancery and seminary were removed to Jinan. In 1870, Bishop Eligio Pietro Cosi was ordained the Coadjutor of Shandong. According to statistics in 1886, the numbers of Catholics reached 16,356, parishes were more than 200 while there were 25 priests and 11 of them were Chinese.

In 1889, Vicariate Apostolate of Eastern Shandong was erected and Jinan was then called the "Northern Shandong." In 1946, Jinan was elevated to Archdiocese of Jinan (Tsinan). During the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, all religious activities were suspended. Not until after 1978, churches and the Holy Spirit Seminary were reopened after the nation's religion policy was gradually realized. During the recent 20 years, over 20 priests were ordained. Like all other dioceses in China, the government-sanctioned open Church community recognizes it as the "diocese" of Jinan.


Jinghu Railway that runs from Beijing to Shanghai is the major north-south backbone of the railway system in eastern China. In Jinan, it intersects with Jiaoji Railway that connects Jinan to the sea port of Qingdao to the east. In addition, Hanji Railway connects Jinan to the city of Handan (Hebei Province) in the west. Within Shandong Province, Jinghu Railway connects Jinan with the cities of Dezhou, Tai'an, Jining, and Zaozhuang; Jiaoji Railway provides a link to the cities of Zibo, Qingdao, and Weifang; Hanji Railway serves the cities of Yancheng and Liaocheng.

Major expressways include China National Highway 104, China National Highway 220, and China National Highway 309. Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport has domestic flights to many of the major cities in China as well as to international destinations, in particular Seoul and Singapore.


Jinan has four distinct seasons. The city is dry and rainless in spring, hot and rainy in summer, crisp in autumn and dry and cold in winter. It falls into the warm temperate continental monsoon climate zone.


Information Technology, transportation tools, home appliances, bio-engineered products, etc. have become important components of the area's industry.


Jinan is the capital of Shandong province. The area of present-day Jinan has evolved into an important administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city is located in north-western Shandong, it borders Liaocheng to the southwest, Dezhou to the northwest, Binzhou to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Laiwu to the southeast and Tai'an to the south. Jinan is also called "City of Springs", because of the many artesian springs.