Cities throughout east China's Shandong province have launched a charm offensive, aimed at building their national and global profiles.

The Shandong Peninsula is the epicenter of this ongoing branding process, which has already seen the city of Qingdao designated as one of China's Top Ten Branded Cities at the Third China Brand Festival. It was granted the title of Most Famous Branded City in China in November 2005. Now it is poised to become one of the world's most well-known cities.

Qingdao won the accolade through being the home to two of the world's most famous brand names, 69 of China's most well-known trade name and 36 leading Chinese brands, which together account for 25.1 percent of Shandong's turnover. It is now China's second-largest city for well-known brand-name products, number two only to Shanghai.

As the host city of the 2008 Olympic sailing events, Qingdao is building on its reputation as China's "Sailing City". The city now attracts more than 35 million visitors a year according to its own figures and sells 400 billion yuan branded products to domestic and foreign markets annually.

More than 50 cities in Shandong province are now seeking to brand themselves through cultural festivals, sport events and economic expos. Shandong has seen a spectacular growth in its urban branding sector.

Jinan, the capital city of Shandong and the setting for the 11th National Games, has branded itself as "the city of springs". It is the city with the most springs in China, with some 560 scattered across its landscape. Some 140 are concentrated in the downtown area and many have been historically listed under the "72 Famous Springs" initiative.

A total of 140 billion yuan over the past four years was invested as part of the run-up to the National Games, giving the city a totally new look.

The coastal city of Yantai, as the "International Grape and Wine City", is permeated with the heady bouquet of its most well known product. Its grape wine's 110-year history created the world's seventh "grape coast". Some 50 percent of China's wine is produced here and more than 50 well known wine brands have branches in the city. The Yantai International Wine Festival, held every two years, attracts some of the world's leading wine exhibitors.

Weifang is known as the "International Kite Capital". In 1984, the first International Kite Festival was held here. Since then, Weifang has held an International Kite Festival every year.

Centered around Mount Tai, the city of Tai'an has now held 23 International Climbing Festivals and established a mountain-alliance with other world famous mountains across the world, including Mount Fuji.

Zibo, whose ceramic connections date back more than 8,000 years, is renowned as the "capital of ceramics" due to its associations with the porcelain and ceramics industry. The annual China (Zibo) International Ceramics Exposition highlights the city's ceramic output, currently exported to more than 70 countries and regions.

Qufu, known as Confucius' hometown, now stages the China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival every year in order to commemorate China's greatest thinker and educator. The sage has bestowed the city the reputation of being the "Eastern holy city" and sees it attract four million tourists every year.

Weihai, a coastal city in the province, attracts increasingly large numbers of residents from South Korea and Japan due to its high quality of life and optimum business environment.

Dezhou, known as the "sun city", has seen its solar energy industry expand by 20 percent each year. Its solar water heaters now account for 70 percent of the Shandong market. Officials in Dezhou now envisage an output of 50 million yuan from the solar industry by 2010, accounting for one third of the domestic market.

The growth of its branded cities has boosted tourism and investment in Shandong province. More than 200 international expos are now held annually in 10 cities of the Shandong Peninsula.

(China Daily 11/26/2009 page24)