Jinan's renowned water springs were recently included on the preliminary list of world cultural heritage sites, according to the Chinese National Committee for the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

The development is exciting because being placed on the preliminary list of world heritage sites is the prerequisite for UNESCO to declare them world heritage sites.

Jinan, also known as the City of Springs, is home to numerous springs and weeping willows, leading to some wonderfully elegant and much-loved scenery distinct to the city.

The Jinan Spring City landscape boasts more than 700 natural springs that grace the metropolis. They depend on a karst groundwater system, which originated around the third century AD.

The natural springs landscape involves a total of 89 heritage sites -- including a host of evocative water features in gardens, dwellings and lakes and other features spread across the city.

The landscape integrates regional springs water and the urban water system, which highlights the ancient city's wisdom in promoting sustainable development and in water environment treatment and utilization.

It also represents a unique system in China, even in the world, in terms of utilizing spring water resources.

Another five sites included in the tentative list this round are China-Mongolia-Russia Tea Road, the Haining tidal landscape in Zhejiang province, as well as the Shimao Relic Site, the Tang Emperor Mausoleum and the Western Han Emperor Mausoleum in Shaanxi province.

The elegant Qushui Pavilion Street. [Photo/ijntv.cn]

The famous Black Tiger Spring is named for the roaring the water makes as it splashes into the city moat from its carved tiger heads. [Photo/ijntv.cn]

Nestling in eastern Shandong province is Baotu Spring Park in Jinan. [Photo/ijntv.cn]