Liaocheng , also known as the Water City, is a
prefecture-level city in western
Shandong province,
People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of
Jinan to the southeast,
Dezhou to the northeast,
Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of
Hebei and
Henan to the west. The
Grand Canal flows through the city center. Its population was 5,789,863 at the 2010 census whom 1,229,768 lived in the built-up area made up of Donchangfu district, even though large parts remain rural.