Mount Lu, the fourth highest mountain in Shandong Province, has been little-known since ancient times. However, its obscurity has also left its beauty and ecology untouched – splashing waterfalls, clear brooks, lush forest, exotic flowers, rare birds and animals can all be found here.

A maze of stone caves, formed during the glacial epoch, is its most memorable feature. The mountain body cracked under the all-pervading ice, and then a series of granite caves were generated through millions of years of wind and water erosion. Many caves are connected together, with brightly lit passages alternating with dark lanes. Entering the maze, you often quiver at the sound of unseen water and feel alarmed by the puzzling twists and turns of the passages. Emerging from the maze and entering the sunlit world again, alive with chirping birds, you get the feeling you've just passed through a time tunnel and are experiencing a completely different world.

In the Boshan District of Zibo City, I climbed Mount Yuan. What touched me was not the winding Great Wall built by the State of Qi, but the amazing natural wonder of the Stone Sea. A great stretch of bizarre stones cover the foothills like the rolling waves of the sea, exceptionally spectacular. Gazing at the waves of stones, the countless sages born in Zibo came to mind.

Natural landscapes in Zibo are also endowed with poetic and historical hues. It was said that Duke Huan of the State of Qi once summoned a conference in Zibo of rulers of all the vassal states of the day. As precaution against any plan to trap and kidnap them, the participants were accompanied by legions of troops. The stomping of a multitude of war horses created a cave-in, which later grew into a lake, and was named Mata (Horse Stomp). It is now a scenic area laced with swaying reeds.

Relics are commonly found in Zibo and everywhere in this ancient Qi site, so the local history museums glitter with the brilliance of ancient civilization. The most visited are the Pit of Sacrificed Horses of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 B.C) and the Ancient Chariot Museum.

The pit of sacrificed horses was affiliated to the tomb of Duke Jing of the State of Qi. A total of about 600 horses were placed in a large pit with an average of 2.78 horses occupying a one-meter section. The horses were arranged in two rows in running postures with raised heads and curled limbs. All in their prime, these once-beefy horses must have presented a mighty spectacle when they were alive. Now they quietly lie in the hall, and only their skeletons are left to offer visitors a glimpse of their past glory. From this grand tomb and the wealth of burial objects in it, the great economic strength of Qi is obvious. The pit provides extremely valuable data for scholars of the history, economics, military affairs and social customs of Qi, including its sacrificial system.

The Ancient Chariot Museum is China's only professional museum exhibiting land vehicles. Its displays include camel-pulled carts of the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) and the Khitan tribe's carriage with its high wooden wheels, suited for prairies and battlefields. There are also small barrows and larger carts that are still in use in some remote rural areas. The hall for the pull carts and 32 of the sacrificed horses from the Spring and Autumn Period stands by the busy Jinan-Qingdao Expressway, where these artifacts were unearthed during road building.

Of course, the 2,700-year-old horses are long past hearing the whistle of modern vehicles whizzing by on the highway. However, their meaning and message survives into modern time, presenting a sharp contrast to our current modes of transportation.

These attractions in Zibo offer your imagination different worlds to contemplate.

Green Industry, Green Zibo

Zibo is world famous for ceramics, known as the contemporary kiln of China. About 10,000 years ago, red sandy pottery was invented in today's Yiyuan County, marking the beginning of its longstanding ceramic culture. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, five new types of porcelain were developed and produced in Zibo and once again the ceramics industry was impressed with its ingenuity. A number of luxury household ceramics have been appointed exclusive products for the Great Hall of the People, the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and Zhongnanhai (the former imperial compound in Beijing, now housing the headquarters of the CPC and the State Council). Moreover, new ceramic materials have contributed to high-tech industries such as aerospace and electronic information.

As a national high-tech enterprise, the Shandong Institute of Advanced Ceramics Co., Ltd. (SICER) is preeminent in ceramic research and development, production and management. In 1984 SICER was chosen a supplier for Zhongnanhai and the General Office of the State Council. Its products are still used there by state leaders 27 years later, a record in China's ceramic sector.

In 2000, Zhu Rongji, premier at that time, received a delegation of U.S. senators at Zhongnanhai, and one senator was so fond of the covered cup of dragon design produced by SICER, he asked whether the Premier could send him one for a souvenir. Premier Zhu gladly agreed. After that, the State Council ordered 200 sets of this cup from SICER as presents for foreign political heavyweights. The wife of Vladimir Putin is fond of the design and purchased two sets, one in 2002 and another in 2009.

Moreover, Zibo has boosted the use of new materials for its pillar industry in recent years.

For much of the last century Zibo was a heavy industry town. During the recent industrial upgrading, Zibo transformed itself into a high-tech base.

In 1987 the predecessor of Dongyue Group Ltd., was founded, with only 38 workers and two second-hand machines. Now it is a leading manufacturer of fluorine and silicon materials. After 20 years of effort, the company has established a complete production chain of hi-tech fluorine and silicon products, with processes that employ new environmental protection measures, new materials and new energy sources. On the technological competitiveness list of the top 500 conglomerates in China, Dongyue ranks fourth. In the 2010 top 100 chemical enterprises in China, Dongyue ranks 25th. In recent years, top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Li Keqiang made inspection trips to Dongyue, and had high praise for the company's major independent innovations in fluorine and silicon materials, particularly its research and development of ionic membranes.

Its geographic advantage encourages Zibo to exploit its new material industry. During the next five years, the city will strive to expand the production value of the emerging industry to over RMB 500 billion, and increase its share in the whole industrial sector to 50 percent. Meanwhile, Zibo is actively participating in the establishment of the Yellow River Delta High-Efficiency Ecological Economic Zone and Jinan Metropolitan Region, an economic alliance covering the provincial capital and neighboring cities.

People in historic Zibo are determined to build a green city with a brilliant future.