The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With 8,472 square miles (21,940 km2) and a population of more than 2.2 million people, it is the second-largest metropolitan area centered in Missouri (after Greater St. Louis) and is the largest metropolitan area in Kansas, though Wichita is the largest metropolitan area centered in Kansas. Alongside Kansas City, Missouri, these are the suburbs with populations above 100,000: Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Kansas; Olathe, Kansas; Independence, Missouri; and Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Gaotang County, which belongs to Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, is located in the northwest of Shandong Province, adjacent to Yucheng City and Qihe County in Texas in the east, Linqing City and Xiajin County in the west, Chiping County in the south and plain county boundary in the north, covering an area of 960 square kilometers and a population of 500000. Gaotang County is 70 kilometers east of Jinan International Airport, and Gaotang Railway Station is built through the border. It is more than 50 kilometers away from Liaocheng Station and Linqing Station of Beijing-Kowloon Railway, and 60 kilometers each from Dezhou Station of Beijing-Shanghai Railway. It is convenient to "get on the train in 20 minutes, board the plane in one hour and enter the capital to the port in four hours." Qingyin Expressway and Shandong West Outer Ring Highway pass through the county. The terrain in Gaotang is gentle and the land is fertile, and in the east there are