Why it looks like this

Jinan's old city is a water machine: artesian springs — traditionally counted as 72, led by the Baotu Spring — rise inside the town, run in channels along and under the streets, and gather into Daming Lake at the old city's north edge. Willow-lined spring courtyards sit behind ordinary house fronts.

The city is squeezed between Mount Tai's foothills to the south (the source of the spring water) and the Yellow River to the north, so modern Jinan grew east–west into a long band — a ribbon city with a wet, ancient heart.