Jilin City Travel Guide
Jilin City is Jilin Province's second city and resides in northeastern China. A decent enough city to spend a few days, Jilin City is visited mainly for its fantastic surroundings.
- Worth It?
- Yes, for skiers and hikers.
- What to Do
- visit Songhua Lake, ski, hike.
- Best Time to Go
- November through March for skiing; spring and fall (April to October) for hiking.
- How Long?
- Two days is good for Jilin City.
- Trivia
- Jilin comes from Jilin Wula ('city along the river'), and is the only city in China that shares its provincial namesake.
Jilin City has a decent range of hotels, shops, markets, and parks and makes a good base for exploring the surroundings. Jiangcheng Square is the town's main landmark and features a huge monument. Songjiang Road is on par with Shanghai's Bund, while the Rimmed Trees of Jilin are a fine sight along the Songhua River.
Another worthwhile Jilin City attraction is the Meteorite Museum, which contains the heaviest meteorite in the world, the Jilin Aerolite. Also worth a look is the Confucius Temple.
Songhua Lake, outside Jilin City, has amazing mountain scenery and is good for hiking and boating in the summer. During the winter, the nearby Beidahu Skiing Field has good sliding.
Travel to Jilin City - Getting There
Changchun Longjia International Airport, 65kms west of town, is the gateway to Jilin City. Jilin Gudianzi Jichang Airport is now out of commission. Changchun is 1 hour, 30 minutes flight time from Beijing. Bus travel to Jilin City is the best option as trains are expensive. Travel by train to Jilin City from Beijing takes 12 hours or 30 hours from Shanghai.
Jilin City Things to Do
Jilin City Attractions
Side trips from Jilin City
- Songhua Lake
- the main attraction in Jilin City is not far from town and comes with boating and hiking, and skiing nearby at the Beidahu Skiing Field.
Events
- Jilin Rime Ice and Snow Festival
- a fun time to be in Jilin City (December and February).
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