Shandong with its peninsula and main- land parts may be divided into four topographical zones: 1) The Northwestern Shandong Plain, formed mainly of the deposits of the Huanghe River, is part of the North China Plain. Crisscrossed by the Huanghe River' and the Grand Canal, it is an important farming area. 2) The Jiaolai Plain between the central-south Shandong and the Jiaodong hilly regions is hounded by sea bays on its northern and southern tips and is traversed by the Jiaolai, Weihe and Dagu rivers. 3) The Central-South Shandong Hilly Area is elevated in the middle and slopes gently in four directions. Over 1,000 metres above sea level, it is composed of the Taishan, Lushan, Yishan and Mengshan mountains. Taishan Mountain, whose main peak is 1,545 meters in elevation, is one of the five sacred mountains in China. 4) The Jiaodong Hilly Area is the main part of the Shandong Peninsula.
The Huanghe River and the Grand Canal are the major waterways. The section of the Huanghe River in Shandong runs more than 600 kilometers long, flowing northeast until it empties into the Bohai Sea east of Lijin. The section of the Grand Canal in this province totals about 500 kilometers in length. It flows from north to south across the plain in the west where it meets the Huanghe River.
(china.org.cn)
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