Tofu is not what you cross China for, but Tai'an's version is genuinely different. The water from Mount Tai's springs is unusually pure, which produces a tofu with a finer texture and cleaner taste than what you get elsewhere. A traditional Tai'an tofu meal works through a dozen variations on the theme — silky cold tofu in soy and chilli, fried tofu skins, tofu stuffed with mince, hot tofu broth, the lot.
A handful of restaurants in town specialise in this banquet-style tofu meal: ask at your hotel or on Tongtian Street. Cheap by comparison with the same number of dishes anywhere else, and a useful change from the standard Shandong noodle-and-dumpling fare.