Five cities of Shandong Province were honored with the title of ‘2011 Nationally Designated Garden City,' thus ascending to the ranks of the 30 Garden Cities of China, according to the official website of the national Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The five cities include Dongying, Longkou, Haiyang, Jining and Liaocheng.

According to the website, 31 counties in China have also been designated as ‘Garden Counties' including 3 counties in Shandong province: Ningyang, Dongping and Yishui.