Getting there
Jinan International Airport is located about 40 kilometers outside of town. Visitors unfamiliar with the area should be cautious when taking taxis from the airport, because it is a magnet for Jinan's craftiest cabbies.
Taxis in Jinan start at 7.5 yuan ($1) and increase by 1.5 yuan (about 20 US cents) per kilometer after the first 10.
Most affordable three- and four-star hotels line Beiyuanjie north of the city, and the cost from the airport should not be more than 105 yuan ($13.7) unless traffic becomes congested. From here, fares to most sites including Qianfoshan, Daming Hu and Baotuquan should be less than 15 yuan ($2).
Busses leave for Tai'an and Qufu every half hour.
A bus to Tai'an should cost about 20 to 30 yuan ($2.6-3.9) and should take about an hour and a half. A bus to Qufu should cost less than 55 yuan ($7.2) and take less than two-and-a-half hours.
The last bus from Tai'an to Jinan leaves at 7:30 pm, and the last bus from Qufu to Jinan leaves at 5:30 pm. Sun worshipers could find lodging on Taishan but might find the hotels on the mountainside to be exorbitant (about 1,400 yuan, or $182, per night on average for austere accommodations). A cheaper option is catching Zs in the rows of bunk beds lining these hotels' hallways (200-600 yuan, $26-78) or renting a tent (as low as 25 yuan, $3.3).
Tai'an offers much cheaper accommodations in the city, but staying here could cut the time spent on the mountainside.
(China Daily 05/17/2007 page19)
