Changchun Travel Guide

Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, is its political, economic and cultural center, and a top tourist city. It is an important agricultural area, producing commodity grains and other agricultural products, as well as a key industrial base, manufacturing automobiles and technology.

Geographic Features

Situated on the central Northeast China Plain, Changchun has long, cold, dry winters, with an average temperature of -16.3 C in January. Spring and autumn are short and the weather changes rapidly. Summers are warm and humid. The annual precipitation is between 522- 615 millimeters. It is called the "Spring City of Northern China".

People

Changchun has a population of 7.12 million; 3.039 million are urban residents, and most are Han nationality. There are 37 minority nationalities in Changchun and the bulk are Manchurians, Muslims, Mongolians, Xibao and Zhuang. The main religion is Buddhism and Taoism. The natives speak Changchun dialect, but the official language is still mandarin.

History

Primitive people inhabited this area some 7,000 years ago. It was in the possession of the Fuyuguo kingdom and the Bohaiyuan Kingdom successively. Changchun saw prosperity during the reign of the Liao (907-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) Dynasties. In 1931, the Japanese invaded Northeast China and established the puppet Manchukuo State. Changchun was selected as its capital and called "Xinjing" -the new capital. In October 1948, Changchun was liberated and designated as a special city. In 1954, it was made the capital of Jilin Province.