吉林省

Why this place

Jilin is the province of long cold winters and dramatic volcanic mountains — Changbai Mountain's crater lake sits on the border, and the Songhua River's rime ice at Jilin City is a national spectacle every January. The Korean autonomous prefecture at Yanbian gives the province a second food and language culture.

What to see

• Changbai Mountain's Heavenly Lake and the hot springs on its north slope
• The rime ice on the Songhua at Jilin City, in January
• Yanji and the Tumen River border at the Korean prefecture
• The Koguryeo tombs at Ji'an, on the Korean border

What to eat

• Yanji cold noodles and Korean-Chinese barbecue
• Northeast stews; ginseng dishes from the Changbai foothills

How to plan

Four days: Changbai two, Yanji two — they connect by rail.

Best time

July–September for the mountains; December–February for rime ice

Cities 9

长春市 Changchun吉林市 Jilin City四平市 Siping辽源市 Liaoyuan通化市 Tonghua白山市 Baishan松原市 Songyuan白城市 Baicheng延边朝鲜族自治州 Yanbian