Qufu and Zoucheng are two neighboring county-level cities in Jining Municipality, a poor area in the South-West of Shandong Province. The area was home to some of China's earliest civilizations, and rich in cultural heritage assets. Cultural heritage assets in the project area include the Confucius temple, Kong family mansion, and burial grounds complex, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site, as well as over 100 national-level cultural heritage assets. Qufu has a population of 640,000, covers an area of 896 k