right|thumb|250px|Main entrance of the meeting hallThe Zhejiang and Fujian Meeting Hall is a historical Qing- Dynasty building in the City of Jinan, Shandong Province, China. It served as a meeting hall for traders form Zhejiang and Fujian living in Jinan and is the last remaining structure of its kind in the city. It illustrates the importance of Jinan as a trading center in the second half of the 19th century.
thumb|250px|left|View of the theater hall from the balconyThe city of Jinan has been one of the major transportation and tradingcenters in the north of China for long time, particularly so after theYellow River shifted its bed to the immediate north of the city in1852. As a consequence, traders from other regions of China came toJinan and established their businesses there. Groups of traders fromthe same home region set up meeting halls in order to make themselvesfeel at home, provide a convenient location for their businessactivities, foster collaboration among themselves, and protect theircommon business interests. In total, Jinan had more than 10 meetinghalls for traders from regions over the country. Over the years mostof these buildings were either converted to serve other purposes,deteriorated, or were torn down. The meeting hall of the traders fromZhejiang (abbreviated as "Zhe" (Chinese: 浙) in the hall's Chinese name) and Fujian (abbreviated as "Min" (Chinese: 闽) in the hall's Chinese name) is the last existing meeting hall inJinan. It was established in 1873 during the late Qing Dynasty bya trader from Fujian who also held a government office. Since losing itsfunction as a meeting hall, the building has been used as a boarding house, a morgue, as storage forold books (1960's) and as a factory building (1970's).[1] The building was declared a key historicalsite by the City of Jinan in 1979. On October 16, 2007, the renovated hall was reopen as a center where senior citizens can practice arts such as calligraphy and painting.[2]
The meeting hall served as a gathering place on every majorfestival. On these occasions, the traders from Fujian and Zhejiangwould use it for religious observances, to discuss business, to dine,and to attend theater performances.
The meeting hall has a wooden framework supported by large woodenpillars. Overall the building complex is about 80 meters deep and 30 meters wide. Its roof is covered with small green tiles. Originally,the hall had two gates, a north gate leading to the Kuan Hou Suo Alleyand a south gate leading to the Southern Ma Dao Jie (now renamed to"Black Tiger Spring West Road"). The north gate has been closed off in1956, since then, since then only the south gate is being used. Themeeting hall has two main halls, one located directly behind the gatehouse of the southern entrance gate and the theater hall right to thenorth of it. The two halls are separated by a wooden screen that canbe opened to create one big hall to accommodate large functions. Thetheater hall is supported by six pillars and consists of fivehalf-open rooms. The stage (approximately 6 meters wide and 4 meters deep) is located to the north of the hall withseating areas arranged along the east, west, and south sides of thehall. Wooden staircases lead up to the first floor on the east andwest sides of the hall. Behind the stage lies a small changing roomfor the actors.
The Zhejiang and Fujian Traders Meeting Hall is located in Lixia District, within the historical city center of Jinan, north of the southern city moat. It geographical coordinates are 36.6627°N 117.025°W and its postal address is: Black Tiger Spring West Road Number 23, Lixia District, Jinan.