Raffles C.U. International College (RCU) is situated in Changchun which is the regional capital of Jilin Province, in the North East of China (Dong Bei). The nearest cities to it are Shenyang (302 km) and Harbin (155kms). Dalian and Beijing are both close enough for a weekend trip. Train connections are excellent and the overnight sleeper to Beijing and Dalian are not very expansive.
Changchun itself is a relatively modern city and was developed by the Japanese as capital of Manchuria and was the home to the puppet ruler Henry Pui the final Qing dynasty emperor immortalized in Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic film The Last Emperor. The Japanese colonization of Changchun has left a number of fine Japanese styled buildings particularly around Culture Square, which is itself, the second largest square in China after Tiananmen Square.
Changchun is a relatively easy city to get around as is designed on a grid system with the main artery, Renmin Dajie running right through from North to South with the railway station being at the Northern end. The specially designed map incorporated in Changchun Friends gives an easy to view overview of the city and shows many of the main areas of interest. Equally, there is also a Bus map, which shows all the major bus routes. Buses are cheap and start at 1RMB. Taxis are plentiful and the minimum price is 5RMB.
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Changchun has gained fame recently and one of its names is the Detroit of China producing first Red Flag cars for the Communist Party cadres and more recently Volkswagens for China’s emerging middle class. Changchun itself means City of Eternal Spring which does seem slightly ironic as the defining feature of Changchun is not its Spring (which is very short) but rather the long extremely cold winters when temperature can plunge to as low as -30 degrees centigrade. Another names for Changchun is Film City because, it is the cradle of film making in China and many westerners are often recruited as extras in films, television shows and advertisements.
Besides its automotive background Changchun is also famous for its production of trains and together with the myriad supply companies within these two industries have provided a powerful economic boost to the economy which suffered which suffered from severe unemployment when many of the State owned enterprises were closed down.
Changchun is also and Educational and Research Centre and boasts 27 full time colleges and universities and over 100 scientific research institutions with over 300,000 technological personnel in a wide range of fields. In fact it ranks first in China in the in the proportion of technological personnel in its population and is a leader in the study of optical electronics, precision instruments, laser technology, high polymer materials, bioengineering and of course automobile technology.
Changchun is a city of extremes with the long cold winters suddenly changing into a pleasantly green city in the spring and summer. Within Changchun itself Nanhu Park (South Lake Park) is conveniently situated and one can enjoy a picnic, go boating or just go for an evening stroll after dinner. Slightly further out from Changchun is Jingyuetan which is situated 12 km from the southeast of Changchun. This is a manmade national Forest and was started in 1934 and is now the largest manmade forest in Asia. It is a welcome respite from the daily noise of the city and a full day can be very relaxing.
The restaurant scene in Changchun provides a wide range of different cuisines and new restaurants are continuously opening. Due to its proximity to Korea and the large ethnic Korean community in the city, Korean restaurants abound. Coffee shops are dotted throughout the city and there are a few Western style restaurants opening up.
Nightlife is also fairly lively and besides the nightclub scene, Ji Opera and Erronzhuan (a song and dance duet) are especially popular and the melodious tunes and lively forms are well received both locals and tourists alike.
Finally, the city’s greatest attraction is its people. They are unpretentious, warm hearted and quick witted.
Welcome to Changchun!
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