Tai’an is the key producer of plaster, sulphurite and granite, with the most amount of plaster designer. Since there are implications of “as stable as Mount Tai” and “weightier than Mount Tai” in Tai’an granite, it has been employed in many well-known Chinese buildings like Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square and Monument to the People's Heroes, at Tiananmen Square.

Tai’an has traditional advantage in Mechanical and electrical products, textile, chemical industry, building materials, coal, electricity and food industry. Products with high market share include crosslinked cable, diesel engine, weighing apparatus, hemp textile, fibre glass, thistle board and Taishan Tequ wines. Four stocks including Taishan Petroleum, Taishan Tourism and Lu Run Trading Co. have listed on stock markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen. With healthy performance, all of them are blue chip popular in stockholders.

Crape myrtle, a kind of sheepberry is the city flower of Tai’an. There is a hundred-year-old Crape myrtle tree in the yard of Luohanya, which is full of antiquity with its trunks curling like dragon horns. From summer to autumn, Crape myrtle trees are in full blossom. Rustling and flickering tenderly in soft breeze, there flame-like flowers are gorgeous and charming to all. In recent years, Tai’an municipal government has planted crape myrtle all around the city.

Sophora japonica Linn, also known as Chinese scholar tree, is the city tree of Tai’an. It is a kind of deciduous treesin the pea family. Sophora japonica Linn is highly adaptive and valued for its longevity and ornamental value. There are 42 more than 100 years old Sophora japonica Linn on Mount Tai, among with the 'Tang Chinese Scholar-tree' in Dai Miao and other three ones are the most famous.

China International Mount Tai Climbing Festival in early-September has been a new holiday in Tai’an anda golden bridge connecting people in this city and friends from all over the world.

Welcoming Guests (Yingke) Pine

Since the beginning of the reform and opening in 1978, Tai’an has fully implemented the economical globalization strategy and paid close attention to the optimization of the investment environment, establishing customhouse, examination and approval center, foreign investment centre and other institutions for better service for investors. The improvement in the investment environment has attracted one after another solid investment and advanced technology from home and abroad. Tai’an has set up trade relations with 84 countries and regions, friendly sister cities relationship and friendly co-operative relations with above 30 countries and regions. Since 1987, China International Mount Tai Climbing Festival has become the window of Tai’an open to the outside world.

Murals of the Han Dynasty in Daimiao Temple

In 2008, Tai’an’s GDP increased by 14 percent over the previous year and the annual overall revenue totaled 7.64 billion yuan, up by 19.0 percent. The industrial enterprises above the designated size realized main business income of 245 billion yuan and profit of 17 billion yuan, up by 30 percent and 35 percent on last year's correspond-ing. The volume of retail sales totaled 94.66 billion yuan, up 23.3 percent. Income from domestic tourism stood at 13.69 billion yuan, up 30.6 percent. Tai’an has improved its opening-up in terms of both quality and level. There is a booming vigorous cooperation and exchange with oversea regions. There is a new batch of 118 foreign-invested projects, actually utilizing 11.3 $ billion dollars of foreign capital, up by 15 percent. The annual import and export trade volume totaled $ 1.58 billion, up by 18.5 percent.

By Yuan Hao (Shandong Bureau)