Jilin City is also known as the River City (Chinese: 江城), a historical title derived from one sentence, "Chinese: 连樯接舰屯江城", in a poem written by the Kangxi Emperor (Reign: 1661 AD - 1722 AD) of the Ching Dynasty in the year 1682, during a large scale Military Expedition to the Eastern Manchurian regions which had Jilin City as its ending destination. Much later, during his rule, Kangxi's Grandson the Emperor Qianlong also visited Jilin City making nearby Beishan a famous landmark of Jilin, known by many throughout China.
Through the records of a Jesuit Priest, the leading court mathematician Ferdinand Verbiest who had been ordered to come along with Emperor Kangxi, it is known that the expedition left the Imperial Capital Beijing on the 23rd of March 1682, and chose a route that first took it to the Shanhaiguan Fortress (through which the Qing had also entered to subdue China) - the "First Heavenly Gate in the East". After celebrating his success there and inspecting the Fortress troops, the Imperial Army - counted by Verbiest as 70.000 strong with many more serving in logistic roles- , rode out towards the Liaodong Peninsula, and from there traveled to "Kirin" (Now Jilin City of Jilin Province) in North-East Manchuria (See adjacent Map for Route). Today Jilin City is famous for being situated on the supposedly pittoresque Songhua River, and at the time of the year 1682 A.D. it was good position from which Kangxi could project his military strength towards the Russians who had started to show up in these particular regions and who were by no means welcomed. These Russians, rowdy folk who had traveled all the way through Siberia, had been infringing on Manchurian lands (now both conjoined in the Qing Empire). They were nuisance as normally the borders lay farely open, but with the arrival of the Russian new comers they had to be increasingly guarded. They more or less did as they pleased and readily passed across the Songhua River for hunting and possibly in search of land.
Jilin City Climate & Weather :
The four seasons in Jilin are clearly defined and distinct from each other. In Spring the weather in Jilin City is mostly dry but very windy.
Summers in the North-East are generally short and cool, but can count very hot days with temperatures of over 35 degrees Celcius.
In autumn Jilin City remains sunny and warm during the day until early November. However in this period nights can already be frigid.
Winters in Jilin City and throughout Jilin Province are bitterly cold, harsh and see lots of snow. The Winter season starts in early November and last well into April with the coldest temperatures reached in January. Daytime temperatures easily drop below minus 10 to 15 in the deep of winter. Nights can be much colder.
The average annual temperature of Jilin is about 4.8 Degrees centigrade. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of -17.2 Celsius and according to source, the lowest.
Surprisingly the Best Month to visit Jilin is January, as this is the Time to catch the spectacular magic of the Sparkling of Ice condensed upon the Trees along the Songhua He'.
Population: The Total Population of Jilin City is around 4.5 million of which some 2 million live in the urban center of the City.
City of Jilin
Jilin Province includes the City of Jilin located at a distance of some 200 Kilometers due East of the provincial Capital of Changchun.
Jilin, a City of some 1.9 million souls, is mainly an industrial City. Located at various points around the City are Factories, among which a chemical Plant, the 101, which exploded in 2005, causing massive environmental damage and a city-wide evacuation of homes.
Positioned along a bend along a wide riverbend on the Songhua River, Jilin is known as the River City and derives its main scenery from the conditions created by its never-freezing River and fridgid temperatures to produce an impressive ice-skape thats adorns the trees along the River with a sparkling Covering of Ice.
Water vapor rises up from the warm Songhua River to meet the cold -20 °C night air, causing the crystallisation of water vapour on willows branches. The ice-rimed trees in Jilin are counted as one of the four natural wonders of China, along with the Guilin Mountains and Streams, Yunnan Provinces' Stone Forest, and the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River.
The main points of leasure activity in Jilin City are found along the river banks, which provide for a pleasurable stroll and view of the River at all times. For those who dare there is the opportunity of a Cold dive as Winter swimming is
Jiangnan Park.
North Hill Park.
More Geographic & Historic Maps on Jilin City and Area - Coming Soon !
This page was last updated on: August 19, 2013
The Jilin City Report
Introduction to Jilin City
Jilin City Landmarks & Monuments
Jilin City & Area Maps
The China Report
The Jilin Report is part of the overall website www.ChinaReport.com & www.drben.net
Please browse around the City of Jilin and wider Area using our Geographic & Historic Maps.
Find out more about the City and Area through our many Photographic Reports on the main historic landmarks and Monuments and their rich history.
Jilin Railway Station
The Main and only Railway Station of Jilin City. More Soon !!
Don't forget to buy a ticket and pay for your entrance !
The Main and only Airport servicing Jilin City is Longjia International Airport situated some 74 Kilometers from the City Center westward in the direction of Changchun City. For More Information on Longjia International Airport, Jilin City Air Connections and available Flights, please read - Public Transport in Changchun City.
Music CD
"Melody (Lisao)"
Harmonius Music created with the Ancient Chinese musical instrument "Qin",
Schematic overview Map of Jilin City Center with the location of the Five current bridges (of one railway only) and the flows of the Songhua River.
widely practised in Jilin city. The Natives tend to think ice swimming is very healthy, which means that during the winter season one can regularly appreciate some of the crowd suddenly take off their clothes and jump into the river.
In fact Winter Sports are the main activity in Jilin City. The winter sports enjoyed are skiing, skating, sledding, snowboarding, and as mentioned the famed Jilin winter swim, preferably in natural open waters !
Ski resorts near Jilin City are North Big Lake ski resort, Songhua Lake ski resort, North Hill ski resort and Zhuque Hill ski resort.
Apart from the Riverbanks there are several large parks available to the Public in Jilin City. Others can try and finds entertainment in one of the many Karaoke Bars in the Center of Town and on Jiefang Road, or head for the three main dancings annex night clubs for a modern vibe.
Full Information and Photos on Jilin City coming soon !
The City of Jilin was disturbed by a heavy Chemical Incident on November the 13Th of 2005 AD. Six Explosions in succession rocked the No.101 Petrochemical Plant in the City, Jilin Province within the period of an hour. The explosions killed six, injured dozens, and caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents of Jilin City.
Furthermore, the blasts and related leaking of chemicals created an 80 km long toxic slick in the Songhua River, a tributary of the Amur. The slick, predominantly made up of benzene and nitrobenzene, passed through the Songhua River to Songyuan in North Jilin Province, then across the provincial border into Heilongjiang over subsequent weeks. Eventually, the spill even reached the Amur River and passed across National Borders into Russia.
As a result the chemical spills cut of the water supply for the millions of inhabitants of Songyuan as well as Harbin in HeilongJiang Province for an entire week and killed millions of fish in the Ice Covered River.
The First among the Three Most visited Tourist Attractions in Jilin City is the Meteorite Museum which houses the largest stony meteorite remaining of a documented meteorite fall. Over 90% of all meteorites reaching Earth Surface are stony, however this particular large chunk of sky-debris is part of a larger meteorite that was seen exploding over the Northern Suburbs of Jilin City on the 8Th of March 1976 AD in a Giant Explosion. It is since also known as the Jilin stone. The meteorite entry and explosion ended a 4.6 billion year journey of a rock dislodged from its orbit between Mars and Jupiter and scattered rocks and particles over an area up to 500 sq.km in a in a super meteorite-shower never before witnessed in the City. Mushroom clouds appeared on the horizon where massive chunks had buried over 6 meters into the soft local soil and an earthquake of 1.7 on the Richter scale shook the City and Region.
The Jilin stone is massive stone weighing 1770 kilos and is only rivaled by the world's largest single stony-iron meteorite, the 'Huckitta' Northern Territory pallasite which weighs 1400 Kilos. On impact however, it only left a small crater a piddly 2 meter wide, 6 meters deep.
For those who know their marbles so to speak, the Jilin meteorite has contributed considerably to our knowledge of the creation and composition of the earth. The stone meteorite of Jilin consists chiefly of olivine and orthopyroxene with minor kamacite, taenite and troilite. The ratio of olivine to orthopyroxene is 1:1.7. Three kinds of texture are noticed viz. spherulitic, glassy and devitrified-spherulitic and microspherulitic.
Jilin Bridge
Whoops ....
138 stones were recovered after the 1976 AD blast and rockshower. Another stone inside the Meteorite Museum landed only months earlier on the 9Th of July of 1976 AD and is known simply as China Jilin H5. A third stone on display was found near Shuangyang 25/26 Th of May, 1971 AD and is marked as China Jilin H5.
The Meteor Museum is so far the only Museum in Town.
Depictions of the Jilin Meteorite and shower of 1976 AD on Chinese National Stamps.
The original object was an estimated 4 tons.
Source DVD
"Lives & Noodles + Hometown of Confucius & Mencius"
The other attractions of the City are the two parks of North Hill Park in the West of Jilin overlooking the River, and the Dragon Pool Mountain Park.
Last but certainly not least there is the Songhua Lake, popular skiing area located due South-East and very near the City of Jilin.
People from Jilin City count themselves blessed with four famous mountains surrounding their City. Most precious among these is the North Mountain or Beishan, which oddly is located West of the City. There are several Buddhist pagoda's to be visited atop the Beishan, a mountain revered since a visit by respected Ching DynastyEmperor Qianlong in the 17Th Century.
The other famous three mountains are Long Tan Mountain in the east, Zhuque Mountain in the North, and Turtle Mountain in the south.
Far outside Jilin City lies the Lafa Mountain National Forest Park of Jiaohe'. Located in Jiaohe City, the park wedged
You Tube Video: China Travelogue - Jilin Province Part 2 - Wonders of Jilin City.
between Changtu and Labin railroads, the Wutu Highway, and National Highway 302, which all meet in the vicinity. It has an area of 28,000 hectares covered for 39 percent with Forest and a large proportion, 2,461 hectares, open water. The park is divided into four scenic areas - Lafa Mountain, Liangdao Islet, Jindou Palace, and Qingling Ridge.
For a Full listing of Jilin City Landmarks, Monuments, Hotspots and other sites of importance in alphabetical order. Click through and Search through the list to find your Full Report and Photo-Virtual Tour of each monument or landmark within the City.
