Shandong province is a significant coastal province in East China. Located on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, it borders the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea in the east, and faces the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago to the east. It connects with Hebei Province in the northwest, with Henan Province in the southwest. The Shandong and Liaodong peninsulas almost encircle the Bohai Sea.
This special geographical location makes Shandong the key link between the Yellow River Economic Belt and the Bohai Rim Economic Area and between north and east China. It occupies a significant position in the national economy. Shandong Province is located between latitude 34"25' and 38"23' north, and longitude 114"35' and 112"43' east. It is 700km wide from east to west, and 420km long from north to south. With a total land area of 156,700 square km. it makes up 1.6 percent of Chinese territory, and is the 19th largest province in the country. Central Shandong is mountainous, and eastern and southern Shandong is hilly. The alluvial plain of the Yellow River, part of the North China Plain, occupies the north and northwest parts of Shandong. The highest point is Mount Tai in the center, 1,545 meters above sea level. The lowest point is the Yellow River Delta in the northeast, just 2 to 10 meters above sea level. Plains and basins make up 63 percent of the total provincial area; mountains and hills make up 34 percent; and rivers and lakes make up 3 percent.

Rivers and lakes crisscross the province. It has over 100 rivers each more than 50km long. The Yellow River, long honored as the "Mother River of the Chinese Nation", enters the province in the southwest and cuts through the province for more than 610km before emptying into the Bohai Sea in the northeast. The famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal flows for 630km form the southeast to the northwest through the plains in western Shandong. Major rivers in the province also include the Tuhai, Majia, Yihe, Shuhe, Dawen, Xiaoqing, Jiaolai, and Huaihe. The biggest stretches of inland water are the Nansi and the Dongping lakes. Nansi Lake complex, actually consisting of the Weishan, Zhaoyang, Dushan, and Nanyang lakes, covers 1,375 square km, and is one of the 10 largest freshwater lakes in China. Major mountains in Shandong are Mount Tai as well as Mengshan, Laoshan, Lushan, Yishan, Culai, Kunlun, Jiuding, Aishan, Yashan, Daze, and Menglianggu mountains.
Shandong is located in the warm temperate zone with a semi-tropical monsoon climate. The annual average temperature ranges from 11 to 14 degrees centigrade. The annual precipitation ranges from 550mm to 950mm.The frost-free period in the coastal area is more than 180 days while in the inland areas it is more than 220 days.