Meaning of the name
"Lucky Forest"

Geographical location:
Jilin province is located in the central part of Northeast China, adjoining Heilongjiang Province in the north, Lianing Province in the south, and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in the west. It lies in the hinterland of the northeastern Asia composed of Japan, Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and the northeast part of China, adjacent to Russia in the east, and opposite to the DPRK in the southeast across the Tumen and Yalu rivers. Located between 122-131 degrees E and 41-46 degrees N., its territory covers 187,400 square kilometers, accounting for 2 percent of the nation's total, which extend 650 km from east to west, and 300 km from south to north. The land is high in the southeastern part and low in the northwestern, with a vast plain lying in its mid-west.

Capital: Changchun

Major Cities: Changchun, Jilin, Siping, Tonghua, Baicheng, Yanii, Huniiang, Liaoyuan, Tumen.

Neighboring Areas: Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces; Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Neighboring Countries: Russia and Korea

Attractions in Jilin

Population:
27.2799 million.

Population growth rate: 0.98 per thousand.

Ethnicity:
In the province there are altogether 44 ethnical groups. Besides the Han, there are minority ethnical groups such as the Korean, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Sibo, who have been living in the province for ages. The number of the Han people is 24.8163 million, accounting for 90.97 percent of the total. The population of other ethnical groups is 2.4636 million, accounting for 9.03 percent. The Koreans are distributed in Yanbian, Jilin, Tonghua, Baishan and other cities in the eastern part; The Mongolians and Sibos are mainly distributed in Baicheng and Songyuan in the western part; and the Manchus and Huis mostly live in the cities of Changchun, Jilin, Tonghua and Siping.

Autonomous administrative areas for ethnic minorities have been established in the province. These include the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, the Qian Gorlos Mongolian Autonomous County, the Changbai Korean Autonomous County, and the Yitong Manchu Autonomous County. In addition, there are 34 minority ethnical townships (towns), of which 10 are for Mongolians, 10 are for Manchus, seven are for Koreans, two are for the Huis, and five for both Manchu and Korean people. The population of minority ethnical groups and their ratio of the total provincial population rank the ninth and 11th in the country respectively.

History
Until conquered by the Manchu leader Nurhachi around 1600, the region around Jilin was inhabited by loosely-federated tribes and had limited trade with the outside world. After moving on to conquer all of China and establishing the Qing dynasty in 1644, the Manchu set up a military government in the town of Jilin, from which the region then took its name. In the 1700s many farmers from northern China settled there and established an agricultural economy for the first time, despite being officially discouraged by the imperial government. The government finally recognized the new settlements by establishing a prefecture at Changchun in 1799.

Railways and industrialization brought new waves of Chinese immigrants to Jilin in the 1800s, but they also attracted economic interest and conflict from the neighboring superpowers, Russia and Japan. Jilin was raised to provincial status in 1907, but conquered by the Japanese in 1931 and incorporated into the puppet state of Manchukuo. Just before the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Red Army occupied the area, dismantled many factories, and moved them to the Soviet Union. The Guomindang (Chinese Nationalists) under Chiang Kai-shek re-occupied the province afterwards, but were expelled by the Communists in 1948. Under the Communists the economy was boosted by aid from the Soviet Union in the 1950s, and expanded further after completion of the Fengman hydro-electric station in the 1960s. Heavy industry recently overtook agriculture as the main economic force in the province, led by automobile and locomotive manufacture, steel, chemicals, petroleum, and other products.

Culture
Within China, Jilin is famous for its "three treasures" of wild ginseng, deer antlers and marten fur collected in the eastern mountains. Despite this tradition however the true wealth and culture of the province is mostly based on the industrial and agricultural achievements of the latter-day immigrants. The province enjoys greater per-capita income and higher literacy rates than the average in China.

Food
Favorite Korean dishes available in Jilin include cold noodles and dog meat.

Folklore
The lake at the summit of Baitou volcano is the scene of various legends, such as the tale of a nymph who was impregnated by a magic magpie on its shores, giving birth in due time to a boy who became the original founder of the Manchu tribe.

Literacy:
There are 1.3438 million people who have received college education, accounting for 4.93 percent of the total population. And 4.1126 million people have received secondary education (including vocational and professional education), accounting for 15.08 percent of the total; a total of 9.7354 million people have received middle school education, accounting for 35.69 percent of the total. The number of people who have received primary education is 9.1655 million, accounting for 33.6 percent of the total. The number of illiterate (15 years old or older and cannot read or can read only a few words) is 1.2476 million, accounting for 4.57 percent of the total.

Elevation extremes:
The eastern part of the province is the mountainous area of the Changbai Mountains with an elevation of over 1,000 meters and the Jidong hilly land of 500 meters above sea level or lower. The western part of the province is the Songliao Plain, whose low and level western section is the grain base of the province.

Rivers: Di'er Songhua River, the longest waterway in Jilin; Yalu and Tumen Rivers, which form the boundary between China and Korea

Lakes: Songhua Lake, also known as Fengman Reservoir - a renowned artificial lake; Yueliang Pao, Oagan Nur and Dabusu Pao

Climate:
Jilin Province is located in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, east of the Euro-Asian continent, the northernmost section of the temperate zone in China, nearing the sub-frigid zone. The eastern part of the province is close to the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, where the atmosphere is moist often accompanied with much rain. The climate of its western part, which is far from the sea and approaches to the arid Mongolian Plateau, is dry. As a whole, the province has a distinct temperate continental monsoon climate with a clear-cut change of four seasons. The yearly average temperature of most part of the province is 3-5 ¡ãC. The annual time of sunshine is 2,200¡ª3,000 hours. The annual average accumulated temperature in activity is 2,700¡ª3,600 ¡ãC. The precipitation of the province in a year is 550¡ª910 mm and the frost-free period lasts 120¡ª160 days. With hot and rainy days in the same season, it is good for farming. The frost period begins in the last 10 days of September and lasts until the end of April or early May.

Average Temperature: -20C to -14C in January, 16C to 24C in July

Annual Average Rainfall: 350 - 1,000 mm; precipitation gradually decreasing from the southeast to the northwest; 60 percent of the rain from June to August

Natural resources:
The province is one of China¡¯s six major forestry areas. The Changbai Mountains stretching about 500 km is known as the ¡°Changbai Sea of Forest.¡± The province¡¯s land used for forestry covers 9.7226 million hectares, accounting for 51.37 percent of the province¡¯s total and ranking the 12th in the country. Forests cover 7.9767 million hectares, accounting for 82.04 percent of the total land used for forestry, ranking the eighth in the country. The province¡¯s storage of live limber is 840 million cubic meters, ranking the sixth in the country. The province¡¯s forest coverage is 42.4 percent. The highest summit of the province, the White Cloud Peak of the Changbai Mountains, is 2,691 meters above sea level.

The prairie in western Jilin is situated in the center of the Songjiang-Nenjiang Prairie, one of the famous grasslands in China. The prairie is known for its rich forage grasses for sheep, most of which are perennial rootstock and bushy grasses. It is also one of the breeding bases of commercial cattle and fine-wool sheep in northern China. There are 4.379 million hectares of grassland are available in the province, mainly in its western and eastern parts.

Its western part is the easternmost point of the Euro-Asian grassland, where the source of water is rich and the quality of grass is good. A part of the Horqin Grassland, it is Jilin¡¯s animal husbandry base.

The province is abundant in minerals with a total of 136 varieties of ores discovered. The number of surveyed mineral deposits is 93, 75 of which have been explored. The province¡¯s reserves of 22 minerals rank the top five in the country. Its main minerals, include: coal with a reserve of nearly 2.1 billion tons; petroleum with a remaining potential reserve of 113.99 million tons; iron ores with a reserve of 460 million tons; gold with a reserve ranking the 13th in the nation; the reserves of 10 other minerals such as oil shale, diatomite and wollastonite rank the first in the country; veneer gabbro and carbon dioxide gas rank the second in the country; that of molybdenum and germanium rank the third; the remaining potential reserve of petroleum ranks the sixth in the country. Jilin is favored with nonmetallic mineral products and most of its export products are crude nonmetallic minerals and their products. The reserves of wollastonite, diatomite, bentonite, and refractory clay are rich enough for mining. The reserves of petroleum, natural gas and coal are also affluent.

There is a rich resource of wildlife in Jilin Province, particularly in the Changbei Mountains area. Jilin is the original producer of the worldwide famous Three Northeast China Treasures ¡ª ginseng, fur of marten and pilose antler. Its other products, such as glossy ganoderma, the tuber of elevated gastrodia, astragali, and pine mushroom, hedgehogt fungus, frog fat are all well-known at home and abroad.

There are about 2,300 species of plant in the Changbai Mountains, of which 900-odd are of high economic value. There are 870 varieties of medicinal herbs and more than 200 varieties of edible plants. Trees of quality timber for industrial use include Korean pine, Changbai pine, yeddo spruce, northeast China ash, yellow pineapple, Manchurian walnut catalpa, and linden. Chinese grapes, the fruit of Chinese magnoliavine, cowberry and haw are materials for brewing wine. There are 300 varieties of wild plants that provide a rich source for honey-making. Among its 437 species of wild animals, there are precious fur animals and feather fowls such as sables, otters, lynx, Manchurian tigers, leopards, and flowery-tail pheasants. Precious animals that can be used as medicinal materials include red deer, musk deer, brown bears, badgers, frogs, and wood frogs. Animals of high economic value include wild boars, roe deer, and grouses.

Agriculture and crops:
The province¡¯s soil is fertile, suitable for growing grains, beans, oil crops, beetroot, tobacco, jute, potato, ginseng, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and fruits. The province¡¯s sown area is 3.959 million hectares.

Its per capita consumption of grain, the commodity rate of grain, the volume of grains shipped to other provinces, and the export of corn are leading the country continuously for many years.

The province is China¡¯s largest base of commercial grain. It produces corn, soybean and rice.

The Song-Liao Plain in Jilin is an important grain base of the country and a world-known corn-growing zone.

Tourism resources:
The province boasts rich tourism resources. In the provincial capital Changchun, there are the former government office of the Manchurian State established by the Japanese invaders during World War II, the Jingyuetan Forest Park, the Monument to the Martyrs of the Soviet Red Army, the Automobile Town, and the Changchun Film Studio. There are also the Jilin University, the Changchun Institute of Optical and Mechanical Engineering, and the Changchun University. Among its five-star hotels are Mingmen Hotel and the Shangri-la Hotel. In Jilin City, there are the mountain city of Gaojuli on Mount Longtans; Beishan Park; the Songhua Lake in Fengman; the Baohai Ancient Tombs in Mount Liuding of Dunhua; the Chengzishan mountain city in Yanji; the Changbeishan Nature Reserve that covers a vast area in the three counties of Changbei, Antu and Fusong and boasts scenic spots such as the Heavenly Pond, waterfalls, and groups of hot springs and grand canyons. In Tonghua, there is the Tomb of General Yang Jingyu. In Ji¡¯an, there are the Wandu mountain city; Donggou Ancient Tombs; the General Mausoleum known as the ¡°oriental pyramid¡± and the stone tablet of King Haotai. Furthermore, there is the Liao Pagoda in Nong¡¯an and the group of volcanoes at Yitong.

Transportation
Railways:
The province¡¯s railways generally stretch along two orientations: from northwest to southeast and from southwest to northeast. The national artery railway line from Beijing to Harbin runs through the province from south to north. Such principal cities in China as Harbin, Shenyang, Dalian, Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Jinan, Nanjing, and Shanghai can be reached directly from the province. A railway network has been formed to link up various cities, prefectures and townships of the province with Changchun as its center, Jilin city, Siping and Meihekou as its hubs, and the Beijing-Harbin, Changchun-Tumen, Changchun-Baicheng, Siping-Qiqihar, Shenyang-Jilin, Siping-Meihekou and Meihekou-Ji¡¯an as its trunk lines.

Highways:
By the end of 2000, the total distance of highways in the province was 35,216 km with a highway density of 18.8 km per 100 square kilometers. Included in the expressway network are six highways: Changchun-Siping, Changchun-Jilin, Changchun-Yingchengzi, the ring road of Changchun, Jilin-Jiangmifeng, and Yanji-Tumen. The total length of the expressways was 383 km. The expressway from Changchun to Lalinhe (161 km long) is now under construction and expected to be put into operation in 2002.

Airports:
With Changchun, the capital city as its center, and Jilin and Yanji as main airports, the air network links the province with Beijing, Shanghai, Haikou, Kunming, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Korea¡¯s Seoul, and Japan¡¯s Sendai.

Waterway transport:
The major navigation rivers in the province include the Nenjiang River, Songhua River, Tumen River and Yalu River. Generally, the navigation period lasts from mid-April to late November. With a total of 1,789 km waterways and three inland ports (Da¡¯an, Jilin and Fuyu), Jilin boasts an inland waterway handling capacity of 1.40 million tons a year.

Telecommunications
In 1999, the telecommunication department of the province invested 24.5 billion yuan in fixed assets with a total of 12.2 billion yuan put into business operation. With an increase of 4,288 new wires, the number of Jilin¡¯s long-distance cables has reached 60,179 wire lines. Its switchboards increased 280,000, expanding the handling capacity in the province to 4.23 million switchboards. In some cities and counties, the transmission network has been improved with application of wave-division duplicating technology. The transmission optical cables, totaling 240,000 km, have reached almost all the townships and major villages. More projects in this area are underway and the construction of the second control center of the telecommunication bureau in Changchun is entering its preliminary preparation stage. In the year, 559,400 telephones were installed, which fulfilled 139.8 percent of the annual target, making the total number of telephone users reach 2.976 million, including 304,700 new urban users, fulfilling 121.8 percent of the planned target to reach the total number of 2.23 million. The number of increased rural users of the year was 255,000, fulfilling 169.8 percent of the planned target, making the total number of rural users to reach 745,000. A total of 5,905 sets of IC public telephone have been developed, fulfilling 118.1 percent of the planned target of the year. In the year, the number of new users of digital and multimedia communication was 34,300, fulfilling 137.2 percent of the planned target. The total value of the province¡¯s telecommunication business was 2.93 billion yuan, 11 percent higher than that of 1998. The business income was 3.16 billion yuan, 18.4 percent higher than that of 1998. The labor productivity value of the telecommunication industry in the province was 183,000 yuan per person..

Telephones:
By the end of 2000, the number of household telephones reached 3.94 million and the number of mobile phones was 2.03 million. The ratio of telephone users was 22.6 sets per 100 persons. The ratio of trunk line set telephone users was 13.6 lines per 100 persons, and that of mobile phone, 7.7 sets per 100 persons. Both figures reached or surpassed the national average. The number of digital communication users reached 11,000 and the number of Internet users reached 270,000.

Broadcast and television stations:
By the end of 2000, there were 10 radio stations and 31 relay stations in the province, which broadcast 255 sets of programs, with a total daytime broadcasting time of 554 hours and 23 minutes. There were 10 TV stations, producing 46 sets of programs, with 279 transmitting and relay stations, working 2,659 hours and 37 minutes a week. There were 10 cable TV stations and 41 county-level radio and TV stations with 1.9688 million household receivers. The coverage of broadcast and TV was 94.78 percent and 95.72 percent of the province¡¯s total population respectively. Now, every administrative village can receive the broadcast and TV programs and the total length of cable TV network is 26,903 km. The province has 3,242 satellite earth receiving stations and 81 microwave stations with a total length of microwave line of 3,086 km. Each of the provincial broadcast station and TV station has a set of programs relayed through the satellite. The radio programs now can be produced through the sound frequency station. The making of TV programs is now undergoing a transformation from the method of simulation composition to simulation quantity division.