Jilin City, one of 30 largest cities in China, is located on the Songhua Lake at the end of the Changbai Mountain Range. It has a population of 4.25 million and an area of 27100 square km. The State Council named it as an opening city of the first rate and as a "historical and cultural city of China". 27 mineral resources have been verified including molybdenum, gold, and iron etc. Rich in soybean, sorghum, maize and rice, the city is the origin of three treasures of Northeast China.
With a solid foundation of industry Jilin City has evolved into a modernized and industrialized city with a complete array of industrial departments, a harmonious structure and a rational distribution, setting up such leading industries as chemical, electric power, metallurgical and automobile ones, and paper-making, machinery, foodstuffs, textile, electrical household appliance, building materials, electronics, medicine and plastic as pillar industries.
The chemical industry with Jilin Chemical Industrial Company as the main body, plays a very important role all over the country. Its output value and profit both make up 1/3 of the whole city’s. The 0.3 million-ton ethylene project started in the early 1990s will raise thechemical industry of the city to a higher level.
The city has a developed industry of electrical power when three terraced power stations, Fengman, Baishan and Hongshi, have been built on the Songhua River at the upper part of the city. Their installed capacity represents 83.3% of the total of the Northeast. In addition, Jilin Thermal Power Plant with an annual generation of electrical power-27.15 billion KWh can supply energy to the industry and agriculture in the Northeast.
The metallurgical industry possesses an obvious advantage. As the earliest and the largest enterprise of this kind in China, Jilin Ferroalloy Factory ranks first in the output. Of over 40 types of products, some won the prize for excellent quality issued by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry. Jilin Carbon Factory, the largest of the same kind in China, produce every year o.1 million tons of carbon which can be divided into 11 categories and subdivided into 56 types and sold as far as 26 countries and regions such as USA, France and Germany.
Characterized by high starting point, mass and specialized production, the newly-rising and rapidly-developing automobile industry of Jilin City have given rise to some national backbone automobile factories which produce o.1 million light cars and mini cars every year.
The city has a long history of paper making. Jilin Paper Mill has developed into a large, comprehensive state-owned enterprise owning the fixed assets of 690 million yuan and can produce newsprint, wrapping paper and offset newsprint. Now the Mill has become Jilin Paper Company, Ltd.
The light industry includes Jilin Watch Factory, which can produce one million watches a year and the Jinoer Refrigerator Factory which produce 0.1 million refrigerators. The textile industry produces cotton, linen, textile, silk printing and dyeing, chemical fiber and fabrics. The foodstuffs industry is represented by Songyuan Foodstuffs Industrial Company which produces starch and beer, by New China Sugar Factory which produces 45000 tons of sugar every year and by Changbai Mountain Grape Wine Factory which is famous inside and outside the province.
The city has a solid foundation of electrical household appliance industry with well- known products such as washing machines, TV sets, and aluminum electrolysis capacitors. The pharmaceutical industry with Jilin Pharmaceutical Company as its head, is developing rapidly and produces scores of medicines such as raw medicines, intermediate medicines and patent medicines.
Well equipped, supplied with sufficient water and electricity, and facilitated with smooth communication, the new and high-tech industries development zone of the city has established projects and exchange of technology with a dozen of countries and regions such as USA, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hongkong, and Taiwan, etc.. Meanwhile, in order to improve the soft environment of investment, the municipal government has laid out a series of laws, regulations and preferential policies for foreign businessmen’s investment and set up a relevant arbitration institution to furnish them with legal and policy security and ensure the legitimate rights and interests of investors.
Jilin City is a hot spot of the Northeast tourism and has the following routes: the natural mountain and river route of one river-three lakes-Heavenly Pond(the Songhua River, the Songhua Lake, the Red Stone Lake, Baishan Lake, the Heavenly Pond of the Changbai Mountains; the folk customs route(the Koreans and the Manchus); the rime, ice and snow route(taking sledges, enjoying rime, skating and skiing, enjoying ice lanterns, colorful lanterns and river lamps).
The Songhua Lake, once the largest man-made lake of Asia, is one of the national important scenic spots. In spring, the surrounding mountains are painted light yellow and the lake are dotted with white sails. In summer, the green seems to drip from the mountains and the green water appears graceful. In autumn, the mountains are painted with five colours and the lake products are a feast for eyes. In winter, the thinned peaks are wrapped with snow and ice which looks as pure and chaste as jade,making people enjoy the landscapes of the North at one glance.
The Lafa Mountain, situated in Jiaohe County, is said to have 72 caves and 81 peaks. There are many natural caves such as the Heart-penetrating Cave, the Water-Dripping cave, the Immortal Cave and the Access-to-Heaven Cave.
The Meteorite Museum collected 138 meteorite specimen and more than 3000 broken pieces, all of which came from the meteorite shower that fell on the suburb of Jilin City on March 8, 1976. No.1 meteorite, the biggest one of the world, weighs 1770 kg.
The Manchurian Town and the Korean Folk Custom Village. Jilin City is not only one of the origins of the Manchurian nationality but also the gathering residence of the Koreans. 30 km. away from the centre of the city proper is a street called Wula Street(in the Manchus Town) which still reserves the traditional customs and some places of historical interest and scenic beauty. Dasheng Wula Government Office of the General Butler, Hou Mansions, Kui Mansion, Baihua Platform for calling the muster roll of officers and assigning them tasks, the ancient city walls and one thousand-year tree still remain intact. Alafu Korean Village and Xingguang Village of Korean Folk Customs are only 30km away from the city proper where you can see the Korean folk customs.
The rime on the Songhua River is a strange natural phenomenon and as one of four natural wonders in China, it enjoys equal fame as Guilin Mountains and Streams, Yunnan Stone Forest and the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River do. The facilities for ice and snow sports are nice place for tourists to skate and ski in winter. The skiing fields for tourists include the Songhua Lake, the Northern Big Lake, the Northern Mountain, the Longtan Mountain and the Rose finch (the Scarlet Bird) Mountain. Jilin Ice Sport Centre of the international standard is open to tourists throughout the year.
Built in the first year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1736), Jilin Confucian Temple looks resplendent and magnificent. The statues of Confucius and his disciples are enshrined inside the Dacheng Hall which also contains an exhibition of Confucius’ life and career, a display of ancient carvings of the saint’s career, a showroom for the tapestry portraits of Confucius’descendents and their wives of 70 generations. A painting shop and Jilin forest of steles also stand in the temple.
The array of ancient temples in the North Mountain characterized by a blending of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, lie in the North Mountain Park of Jilin City and have the following temples: Emperor Guanyu Temple, King Medicine Temple, Kanli Palace, Jade Emperor Pavilion, and Temple of Godess of Mercy. On the eighth day, the eighteenth day, and the twenty-eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when King Medicine Temple Fair is held, people living in the vicinity, even a thousand li away, will gather there to worship King Medicine Sun Simiao and other gods, and offer sacrifices, praying for happiness and blessing. In recent years, various programs of entertainment, trade of goods and display and sale of products are also conducted during the fair.
The smooth traffic and fast communication result from the railways radiating in all direction and the highways joining the national net, both of which give direct access to Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian and Beijing. The civil airport has opened airlines to some big cities in the country such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. With the help of the program-controlled telephones, the direct-dial calls may be made to all the cities at home and more than 100 countries and regions abroad.
Universities in Jinlin
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