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 Xuzhou, situated in the northwest of Jiangsu Province, is one of Chinese most well-known transportation hubs, in which China's two most important rail lines, Beijing-Shanghai that runs north-south direction, and Lianyungang-Urumqi that goes from east to west, meet here. With a history of 2,600 years, Xuzhou is a historical city with the critical strategic importance from military views. Xuzhou is well known for its heritage and the Han culture and there are an enormous number of historical or cultural relics left by the ancient dynasty everywhere in the city. Recent archaeological excavations have added more unbelievable cultural relics. The excavation in the Lion Mountain in 1995 has been entitled as one of the 100 most important archaeological excavation findings in the 20th Century of China.
 Qufu is located in the northeast of the city of Xuzhou. It is the hometown of the great thinker, statesman and educator. It is listed in the first group of 24 national famous cities of historical and cultural relics designated by the State Council. Qufu is also the hometown of Shen Nong (God of agriculture) and Mencius. In the city, there are now over 300 historic relics under protection, among which six sites are of national level, eleven are of provincial level. The Confucian Temple, the Confucian Mansion and the Confucian Cemetery were ranked as one of the world cultural heritages.
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