China 2007

In October of 2007 I took a trip to visit a friend in Northeast China. I stayed in a city named "Changchun", the metropolitan area has about 7 Million people.

City Scenes

The city of Changchun is in the Northeast province of "Jilin". Although young by Chinese standards (about 200 years old), these days it boasts a bustling modern economy based on countless industries, including a recent Volkswagen production facility.

South Lake Park

We took a trip over to this giant park in the city. Mostly, we walked around and enjoyed the day.

The Puppet Emporer

The Chinese call the last Manchu emperor, Pu Yi, the "Puppet Emperor". His reign as Emperor was controlled entirely by the Japanese during their occupation of the Manchurian region in the 1930's. During that time, Changchun was the official Japanese capital of Manchuria. The palace from which he ruled still stands, even though he is considered a traitorous remnant of an embarrassing period.

Buddhist Temple

In the center of Changchun is a Buddhist temple that has resisted the sprawling city around it. Erik and I visited as a rare opening to the public was coming to a close. At first they warned us to be quick, but apparently Chinese people are rather charmed by a foreigner that can speak Mandarin; thanks to Erik's language skills, we were given a personal tour of the grounds and were even treated to dinner in the temple. A rare honor we did not expect.

Aston School

Erik is a manager at the English language school called "Aston" in Changchun. He gave me a brief tour.

Song Yuan Hotel

One day we head over to this big mansion built during the Japanese occupation that had since then been turned into a very nice hotel.

Nightlife

Every once in a while we'd go out for the night. This night in particular we had dinner at a Szechuan restaurant (which ironically had the least spicy food), and then off to a KTV (Karaoke).

A Long Train

Erik and I set off one day for Chanbai Shan, a mountain near the North Korean border. By car it's only about six hours away, but we had to travel by train and it took us nearly 15 hours. By the end it was dreadfully cold, something we weren't prepared for. To our misery, they don't turn on the heat in the trains until October 27th. Yeay Communism!

Chanbai Shan

Ever White Mountain. The mountain is by the North Korean border, its primary attractions are a waterfall, hot springs, and a large lake in the center of a volcanic crater. The highest peak is somewhere above 10,000 feet. Unfortunately, it has become quite the tourist trap, and seemed to leach money from us with every step. By the time we had gotten there, we had been awake for about 20 hours, but we were eager to see the sights, so we headed up right away.