As I begin to prepare for departure, I'll be profiling the cities where I will be spending most of my time in the field. I'll begin this series today with a closer look at Jinan (济南), the provincial capital of Shandong Province, and China's "City of Springs" (泉城), with a population of nearly 6.8 million.
As the map below illustrates, Jinan lies in the middle of China's cultural heartland:
Set squarely in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, which juts out into the Yellow Sea, Jinan is proximate to some of China's most important cultural and historical sites. To the south stands Tai Shan, a massively important mountain, the most sacred site in Daoist cosmology. In past eras of dynastic rule, emporers made frequent pilgrimages to the mountain, and poets marveled at the mountain's grandeur. Also to the south lies Qufu, ancestral home of Confucius and legendary birthplace of the Yellow Emperor. Just to the west, in Anyang, archaeologists discovered the settlements of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600-1000 BCE), and the earliest elements of Chinese written language carved on oracle bones.
Jinan itself is nearly as ancient. Archaeologists discovered pottery from the Longshan culture nearby that are thought be nearly 4,000 years old. The Great Wall of Qi, the oldest of the many iterations of "Great Wall" built in China, still stands just outside the city. The city is part of the bedrock of traditional Chinese culture. Not only does Shandong's rich intellectual heritage include such native sons as the great philosophers Confucius and Mencius, and the strategist Sun Tzu, but also renowned modern writers like Lao She (who wrote a particularly famous essay on the city's winter months).
The city still bears traces of this distinguished heritage. On many occasions, I've heard friends from Jinan refer to themsevles with great pride as "Confucius' sons and daughters" ("孔子的孩子"). In many senses, Jinan is the prototypical second-tier Chinese city. Indeed, demographically speaking, the city is strikingly homogenous, with the ethnic majority Han Chinese comprising 98.3% of its poulation. Even much of northern China's famed cuisine originated in Shandong. Sweet and sour pork? Mu Shu? From this area. Much of what could be concieved of as "traditional" Chinese culture has roots in and around Jinan.
So, why start here? What makes this the place to start a project that focuses on minority cultures, and cultural and religious traditions that are not regarded as associated with Han-Chinese ethnicity? The answer is that Jinan, like many large cities in East China, holds more surprises than one might imagine. Tucked away behind the city's famous willow-lined natural springs in a network of alleys near the city square is a vibrant ethnic Hui community. The map below shows the approximate location of Jinan's Hui community, referred to locally as simply the "Hui Quarter" (回民小区), bounded in blue. The Great Southern Mosque of Jinan, the heart of the community, is designated by the crescent moon icon (thanks, Google Maps):
Though small, the neighborhood is unmistakable. Centered around the Great Mosque (pictured below), and surrounded by downtown Jinan, the neighborhood is a maze of halal butcher shops, open air produce stalls, Islamic bakeries, apartment buildings and Chinese-style barbecue kabob (called "yang rou chuan'r, 羊肉串) restaurants.
Given such a concentration of "ethno-prenuerial" businesses (the restaurants and shops that market themselves as authentic Hui, or halal, goods and cater to customers who seek to purchase ethnic Hui items) in the neighborhood, and the sheer amount of wattage used up by the quarter's abundant neon signs, it's no wonder that the community stands out. And yet, in the imagination of many citizens of Jinan, the Hui quarter is simply "the place where you can go to eat barbecue and drink beer" (This is how many cab drivers verified the destination with me when I asked them to drive me to the neighborhood). Aside from these prominent features, the neighborhood, and the traditions and culture of the people who reside there, appear less sharply defined in the minds of locals. Many Jinanese, when I've asked them for details about the beautiful Grand Mosque that dates to the Yuan Dynsaty (1271-1368), respond that they're simply not familiar.
Also, like other cities in China, Jinan is rapidly becoming more cosmopolitan. Foreign brands and chains are more prominent than when I first arrived in the city, back in 2009. In the last two years the city constructed a new bullet train station, at least two large, American-style shopping malls, and a 300-plus meter, "supertall" skyscraper. As in many other cities in China, cranes and scaffolding dot the city's skyline.
These changes in urban landscape will, no doubt, also transform Jinan's economic status, and resident's consumer tastes. The results of these transformations, and their influence on communtities like the Hui Quarter, are a large part of what I hope to learn about over the next year.