Yishui Water Conservancy Scenic Area, Qufu City

Yishui Water Conservancy Scenic Area, Qufu City

The Yishui Water Conservancy Scenic Area in Qufu City is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and a national water conservancy scenic area.

The Yishui Water Conservancy Scenic Area is located in the southern part of Qufu City, Jining, built along the Yishui River and its tributary, the Liaohe River. It is classified as an urban river-lake type water conservancy scenic area. Covering an area of 4.126 square kilometers, the scenic zone includes 1.312 square kilometers of water surface.

The scenic area is a blend of cultural and natural resources, centered around the water bodies of the Yishui and Liaohe Rivers, with cultural and ecological landscapes extending along the riverbanks—such as pavilions, corridors, flower stands, trees, and green space recreational facilities. The surrounding area is rich in cultural heritage. In addition to being adjacent to Qufu’s renowned “Three Confucian Sites,” the birthplace of Confucius—Fuzi Cave—and the Nishan Academy to the east of the city, there are also the Han Dynasty tomb clusters to the southeast, the Jiulong Mountain cliff tombs to the south, and the Temple of Duke Zhou, Temple of Yan, Shouqiu, and Shaohao Mausoleum to the north—all of which are key national or provincial-level cultural heritage sites. These attractions complement the Yishui River, creating the unique tourism resources of the Yishui Water Conservancy Scenic Area. With high cultural and touristic value and irreplaceable significance, they enrich the overall appeal of the area.

The Yishui and Liaohe River sections within the scenic area are interconnected along their upper and lower reaches. Along the Yishui River, there are eight waterfront structures including a waterside boardwalk, viewing platforms, and a boat dock. The riverbanks are equipped not only with stone railings, landscape pavilions, large staircases, and accessible ramps, but also cultural elements such as stone tablets inscribed with Confucius’ Analects, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s “The World Belongs to All” inscription, and the “Hometown of Confucius” stele, alongside natural features like the wetland park’s waterside area. Major attractions along the Liaohe River include landscape bridges, service facilities, classical-style corridors, musical fountains, water screen movies, leisure pavilions, wooden boardwalks, waterside platforms, and floating islands. The musical fountain offers residents a visual feast that seamlessly combines water, sound, light, and electricity, harmonizing the beauty of greenery, flowers, water, music, and colorful lighting. The area boasts a diverse range of plant species, with a three-dimensional arrangement of trees, shrubs, and grasses—including over 100 varieties such as white bark pines, osmanthus willows, cedar trees, magnolia, ginkgo, golden-edged euonymus, red tip photinia, pomegranates, hibiscus, and golden privet. These plants enhance the ecological environment, purify the water quality, and elevate the functionality and aesthetic quality of the scenic area. The area provides residents with a refreshing visual and auditory experience, making it the most vibrant green ecological water landscape in the “Hometown of Confucius, Eastern Sacred City.”

Approved as a tenth-batch provincial-level water conservancy scenic area in 2013, and a fourteenth-batch national water conservancy scenic area in 2014.

Source: Shandong Provincial Department of Water Resources