Li Kuchan Memorial Hall is located in Baotu Spring scenic area in Lixia district, Jinan. [Photo/Baotu Spring scenic area]

If you are looking for a place to escape the summer heat, Li Kuchan Memorial Hall in Jinan is a great choice. Here you can enjoy the clear springs, cool breezes, and scented lotus flowers, as well as find inspiration from the fine paintings and calligraphy works that are on display.

Li Kuchan (1899-1983) was a renowned Chinese painter, calligrapher and art teacher who specialized in free-stroke brush painting technique.

His memorial hall is located in Wanzhu Garden in the Baotu Spring scenic area in Lixia district. The site opened on June 11, 1986 and consists of 18 exhibition rooms, where more than 400 artworks by Li Kuchan and his personal collections are on display.

A 21-square-meter painting themed around "midsummer" by Li Kuchan is on display in the main exhibition room of the memorial hall. Li completed the painting at the age of 82. [Photo/Baotu Spring scenic area]

The entrance to the memorial hall is north of a rockwork in Wanzhu Garden, and there is where visitors can find the inscribed "Li Kuchan Memorial Hall"(李苦禅纪念馆) plaque that was created by Chinese master artist Wu Zuoren (1908-97).

The central courtyard of the memorial hall is called the "pomegranate yard" because it has four pomegranate trees.

After entering the main hall in the "pomegranate yard", visitors will come across a 21-square-meter painting, which was created by Li at the age of 82. The painting is themed around "midsummer".

The memorial hall has many other traditional Chinese style courtyards that feature couplets by well-known artists.