Everything about Changchun totally explained
Changchun (Traditional Chinese: 長春; simplified Chinese: 长春; Pinyin: Chángchūn) is the capital and largest city of
Jilin province, located in the northeast of the
People's Republic of China. It is a
sub-provincial city. The name originated from the
Jurchen language. As of 2000, Changchun has a population of 7.1 million, including counties and county-level cities. The urban districts have a total population of 3.2 million.
History
Changchun is a new city with only about 200 years of history. Changchun started as a minor trading town. In 1800, Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty selected a small village on the east bank of the Yitong River and named it "Changchun Ting." In
1889, it was promoted as "Changchun Fu".
It expanded rapidly as the junction between of the Japanese-owned
South Manchurian Railway and the Russian-owned
Chinese Eastern Railway which had different
rail gauges, as well as permit licences, from
1905-
1935. Changchun had railway repair shops and branch lines originating in Changchun extended into
Korea and
Inner Mongolia.
In
1932 moving from
Jilin City (Kirin city) 200 km to the east, Changchun became the capital of
Manchukuo, a state in
Manchuria. Then known as Hsinking (Pinyin:
Xīnjīng, Wade-Giles:
Hsin-ching, Japanese:
Shinkyō, English trans.:
New Capital), the capital was a well-
planned city with broad avenues and modern public works. The city underwent rapid expansion in both its economy and infrastructures. From
1931 to
1945 China's last emperor
Pu Yi was installed as the Manchukuo government head by the Japanese authority. He resided in the Imperial Palace (帝宮) which is now the
Museum of the Manchu State Imperial Palace (偽滿皇宫博物院).
Severely damaged during
World War II, the city was liberated by the
Soviet Red Army in
1945. The Russians maintained a presence in the city after the Chinese civil war until
1956.
Kuomintang forces occupied the city in
1946, but were unable to hold the countryside against
Chinese Communist forces. The city fell to the communists in 1948 after a 12-month-long siege by the People's Liberation Army that resulted in a massive famine with a civilan death toll of 100,000 to 300,000. Renamed Changchun by the People's Republic of
China government, it became the capital of
Jilin in
1954. The
Changchun Film Studio is also one of the remaining film factories of the era. From the 1950s, it was designated to become a center for China's
automotive industry. The famous
Red Flag limousines were made in Changchun as were the Liberation (Jiefang) trucks based on a Ford model used in Russia who supplied much of the early manufacturing machinery.
Changchun hosted the
2007 Winter Asian Games.
Administration
The
prefecture-level city of Changchun administers 10
county-level divisions, including 6
districts, 3
county-level cities and 1
county.
Changchun is the Jilin Province capital, situated at the Northeast China Songliao Plain center. It is the politics, the economy, the culture, the transportation and the financial center of Jilin Province. The total area is 20,604 square kilometers, the population is 7,480,000.
Economy
Changchun has a complete industrial system with 128 categories and over 3,000 types of products. As Changchun's main industry, the manufacturing of transportation facilities and machinery such as those of automobiles, passenger trains, and tractors has developed very well and its total output constitutes, respectively, 1/5, 1/2, and 1/10 of that of the nation's. Industries such as machinery, electronics, optics, chemistry, medicine, textile, metallurgy, building materials and foodstuffs all assume their own features and advantages.
The
GDP per capita was
¥21336 (ca.
US$2580) in
2003,
ranked no. 52 among 659 Chinese cities.
In order to expand the opening of the city to the world, Changchun hosts many large-scale fairs and exhibitions yearly: Changchun International Automobile Fair, Changchun Film Festival, Changchun Agricultural Fair, Education Exhibition and Sculpture Exhibition and so on. Those international fairs and exhibitions already become Changchun's symbol to the outside world.
Changchun is an open city. Since opening to the outside world, it has ties with the American city of Flynt, the English city of Birmingham, and the Japanese city of Sendai and so on with 16 cities for friendship city. It establishes an economic relationship with more than 60 countries and areas. It establishs many overseas companies and representative offices in more than 20 countries and areas. Many of these companies are listed in American or Hong Kong stock exchanges.
Changchun is the biggest automobile research and development center of China. The first Chinese truck and car was born in Changchun. FAW(First Automotive Works) group has 6 series, with more than 600 varieties. One series is Red Flag, the others are derived from Audi and Toyota respectively. FAW group is the first Chinese automobile company on the Fortune 500 companies list.
Jilin Maize Belt is one of the most important commodity grain bases in China. Maize, soybean, paddy rice and sorghum are Changchun's typical agricultural products. Annual grain output is up to 7,500,000 tons. Because the high volume grain output, Aquaculture is well developed in Changchun. Global Bio-Chem Technology Group Company is the biggest corn refined company in Asia, and No.3 in the world. It's annual output of lysine is more than 400,000 tons, shared mostly in the world market. Haoyue Beef is slaughtering 500,000 cows yearly, much of the beef is exported to the Islamic world. Changchun plans 42 square kilometer areas to developing corn ethanol and downstream products. Agricultural Development Bank of China is heavily supporting Changchun's agriculture industry. China's optoelectronic industry is shaped in Changchun.
Thanks to China's "Re-Development of the Old Industry Bases in Northeast" National Project, Changchun has a big opportunity to development itself. Changchun is planning to shape itself as a big player in automobile industry, a organic & natural products base, a optoelectronic industry base and a Northeast China transportation hub before 2010. And also to be a more important role in the revitalized Northeast China processes.
Changchun is situated at Northeast Asia's geometric center. South Liaodong peninsula coastline, north to Russia and Eastern Europe, east to North Korea, South Korea, Russia, and west to Mongolia. Changchun is a important transportation and communication hub of Northeast China.
Universities and Colleges
Jilin University (吉林大學)
Northeast Normal University (東北師范大學)
Changchun University of Technology (長春工業大學)
Sister cities
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Flint, Michigan
Novi Sad, Serbia
Québec City, Québec, Canada
Ulsan, South Korea (since 1994)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Žilina, SlovakiaFurther Information
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