Changchun is the largest city in Jilin province and the main transport hub of the region. It is the capital of the region and is best known for making automobiles. For a city that you have likely never heard of it is huge; 7.7 million people in the city’s administrative area.
It is also considered a great place from which to explore Jilin province. Here there are spectacular lakes, forests and epic mountains along the border with North Korea. There is also a lot of difficult modern history as this was the centre of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
Sadly when you visit in mid-winter none of these options are as appealing or easy to reach. I will definitely need to return to this region in summer.
Basic Travel Information
- Province – Jilin
- Season to Visit – Any
- Route there – Train from Shenyang, Beijing or elsewhere in the North East. Flight from Beijing or major aiports
- Duration: more than 1 day!
- Recommended: Harbin is better in winter but if you have time or want to see Jilin province then yes.
My Story
I arrived in Changchun on my way north to Harbin for the ice festival. I had intended to use the city as a base to explore the surrounding area and visit Jilin city but I was running late for my festival plans by this point and only ended up staying 1 night.
Changchun was my first impression of just how cold it was going to get. I visited the main lake in the town which had frozen solid. I mean metres thick solid, enough that the city had set up a full play park on top of the ice. Large numbers of local children were playing all sorts of sledging, sliding and other ice related games all over the lake. Around the edge were the first true ice sculptures I’d seen, towering columns built from blocks carved from the lake, a great taste of what was to come in Harbin.
This was also the first time I had ever stayed in a capsule hotel (since there were no hostels in town at all). It was actually a really nice set up, comparable to the nicer dorm bunks I’ve seen but with two significant drawbacks:
First there was no social area and once those blinds close on the pods you dont meet anyone. Luckily there was an American talking loudly so I got some excellent company.
Secondly it was extremely hard to find and get into! It was at the top of a tower block requiring multiple lifts, keycard access and the entrance did not match its location on the map.
These were solvable problems for this particular hostel but seems to have set the standard for my experiences in capsule hostels worldwide!
When to Visit
Winter in this region is intense but absolutely the time to get the most special trip to the Northeast. Pack thermals, gloves, wind protection and many layers.
Spring, Summer & Autumn would all provide much better opportunities to explore the wider Jilin province
Further Information
These websites were my favourite sources of general information for this location:
Last Updated: November 2019
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