You wouldn’t notice that the Changchun Film Studio near the city center is abandoned until you got close. It’s then that you spot the crumbling stonework, the peeling window frames, and the faded revolutionary quotes on the wall. Their originator—a gigantic, beaming Mao Zedong —waves paternally at the gate, where a cracking bulletin board displays two obituaries and an announcement about a subsidy award for the studio’s retirees. The Soviet Union-era buildings are draped in green safety nets, disappointing the odd cluster of middle-aged Chinese travelers who are trying their best to peep in. “It looks so old,” they sigh before retreating, shaking their heads as they go. The studio was once the glory of China, pumping out all the important Red films that made Changchun the Chinese Hollywood during the 1950s and 1960s.

Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, literally translates as “permanent spring.” The name was bestowed by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644 AD–1912 AD), who was so smitten by the city’s cool summers that he assumed all of its “seasons are like spring.” The emperor‘s conclusion ended up being a touch premature—he had never been here during winter, when the temperature regularly plummets to -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Changchun is not a typical destination for tourists, but in 2011 it was rated the fourth “happiest city in China.” Taking time out in the city, it’s easy to see why. The air is crisp and still, offering a clear view of the sun as it arcs low across the bluest of skies. The horizon seems wider somehow, spread smoothly across open avenues, and is defined not by the high-rises and overpasses that characterize many of China’s cities, but by towering lines of naked poplar trees.

Most of the city’s major thoroughfares are flanked by imposing xingya-style (兴亚风格 xīng yà fēnggé), literally translated as the “Asia-renaissance style”) buildings put up in the 1930s and 1940s, when Changchun was the capital of Manchukuo, the puppet government established by Japan during its occupation of northeastern China. Their looming stony porticos add an air of gravitas to the city, appropriate for the governmental departments, hospitals and universities that now occupy them.

The people who walk the streets below also retain a distinctive character, and it’s worth taking the time to understand something of their mindset. The stereotypical dongbeiren (东北人, northeastern person) is generous, jovial, straight-forward and comical despite themselves. They are as easy to befriend as they are to enrage, while their accent is so distinctive that many complain their heritage is “stamped on my forehead.” (The most famous example of dongbei dialect is ni ga-ha ne, or ni gansha ne in Mandarin, “what are you doing?”).

An evening in Changchun should not be passed without pausing to catch a performance of errenzhuan (二人转), a form of comic theater hosted by a male and female duo. It’s like a northeastern version of crosstalk, punctuated by dongbei slang and, not to put too fine a point on it, porn jokes. If you’re in Changchun during Spring Festival, performances of yangge (秧歌), a type of rural dance that mimics the planting of rice shoots, will be ubiquitous. During the holidays, the city’s parks, squares and open spaces writhe with famous companies and community troupes performing the dance.

Northeastern cuisine is renowned for its meat stews, large portions and salty, greasy flavors. During the depths of winter, visitors can also treat themselves to a special snack of dongpingguo (冻苹果) and dongli (冻梨), apples and pears that are first frozen hard as iron balls, then softened in cold water to release a super-fresh taste. Vendors will also dish out portions of zaotang (灶糖, kitchen sugar), a kind of sticky candy traditionally eaten on December 23 of the lunar calendar, when it’s said the Kitchen God ascends to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on how the human world is getting on. People consequently bribe him with zaotang in hopes he will speak sweetly about them in front of the Jade Emperor.

Day One

9:00 Puyi’s Puppet Palace

Puyi (溥仪), the last Qing emperor, was crowned here in 1932 as a puppet ruler of Manchukuo, and lived in the palace until the end of the Second World War. His life embodied the political turmoil that engulfed early 20^th century China. He was twice overthrown as emperor, and after the Communist liberation, was first a prisoner and then a model citizen, acclaimed for belting out revolutionary songs and mending his own socks. The Puppet Manchurian Palace (伪满皇宫博物院 Wěimǎn Huánggōng Bówùyuàn) displays several exhibitions devoted to Puyi’s life and the history of the Japanese occupation of northeastern China. Entrance is 80 RMB.

12:00 Lunch at a nostalgic restaurant

Leap forward 20 years to the 1950s and pop into Xiangyangtun Restaurant (向阳屯) at 433 Chaoyang Road (朝阳路433号), near Tongzhi Street (同志街). The three brick stoves that flank the entrance evoke a typical northeastern countryside household of the era, while the walls are plastered with old newspapers, propaganda posters and dried husks of corns. What’s more, they serve authentic dongbei food. Try their guobaorou (锅包肉, sweet-and-sour fried tender loin meat), mushroom and chicken stew (小鸡炖蘑菇 xiǎojī dùn mógu) and corn porridge (大渣粥 dà zhā zhōu). If you call out a well-practiced “fuwuyuan,” the waitress may come over and remind you, in a heavy northeastern accent, “old brother/sister, please call me yadan (a dongbei rural version of ‘girl’).”

13:00 South Lake Park

A Changchun locals’ favorite, South Lake Park (南湖公园 Nánhú Gōngyuán) offers a slew of activities including skiing, sledding, kite-flying and swimming, the latter of which remains popular with the older generation even in winter. Budding divers crack a pool out of the frozen lake surface under the South Park Bridge, after which a cruise boat regularly ploughs the waters to make sure the ice doesn’t re-form. “Once you start to swim in winter you have to swim every day, otherwise your body can’t adapt to the freezing water anymore,” one swimmer said. “The swimmers here are all at least middle-aged; the oldest I know is 70. Young people just don’t have that kind of energy. Every day they go to work, go home, and collapse in front of TV.” Those who want to watch things get (more) serious can catch competitions at the lake every New Year’s Day and throughout Spring Festival.

16:30 A fancy dongbei restaurant

Cold, short days often spark a hankering for warm food in the early evening. Xiaoguofan Blues Restaurant (小锅饭) on the first floor of Wanda Square, Hongqi Street (红旗街万达广场) may look fancy, and the portion sizes are slightly smaller than most restaurants, but it is quintessentially dongbei. Their red braised pork (红烧肉 hóngshāo ròu), stewed tofu (小锅豆腐 xiǎo guō dòufu) and sorghum rice (高粱豆饭 gāoliang dòufàn ) all come highly recommended.

Hot Spots for Eating in Changchun

1. Wang’s Soy Sauce Bones Restaurant
王记酱骨头
(1095 Xi Minzhu Da Jie 西民主大街1095号)

2. Xiangyangtun Restaurant
向阳屯
(433 Dong Chaoyang Road 东朝阳路433号)

3. Xiaoguofan Blues Restaurant
小锅饭
(616 Hongqi Street 红旗街616号万达广场1层)

4. Oriental Meat Restaurant
东方肉馆
(492 Longli Hutong 隆礼胡同492号)

5. Guobianyu Restaurant
锅边鱼
(24 Shuguang Road 曙光路24号)

6. The Socialist New Village Restaurant
社会主义新农村
(50-7 Yueyang Street 岳阳街57号)

Day Two

8:00 Jingyuetan National Forest Park

Take the light rail to Jingyuetan National Forest Park (净月潭国家森林公园 Jìngyuètán Guójiāsēnlíngōngyuán) at the southeast end of the city for a taste of wilderness. Unlike some similarly named reserves in China, Jingyuetan is definitely more forest than park, making it all the more enticing to those who want to escape Chinese park designers’ sometimes overbearing tendency to tinker with nature. The Vasaloppet China International Ski Festival is usually held here each winter, and there’s also a snow sculpture park adjoining the ski resort.

Ski price is 80 RMB (Monday to Friday) or 100 RMB (Saturday and Monday) for two hours.

13:00 Pork Bones and Mashed Potatoes

After hiking through the woods, it’s time to replenish yourself with a hearty meal of jiang gutou (酱骨头), pork leg bones cooked in soy sauce, that traditionally demands a little dongbei-style savagery—grabbing the bones and sucking out the marrow. The best place to get authentic jiang gutou is at 1059 Xi Minzhu Dajie (西民主大街). Also try their mashed potatoes (土豆泥 tǔdòuní) and pancakes (脆煎饼 cuìjiānbǐng), about which many locals offer the rare tribute that “they’re just like my mother’s cooking back home!”

14:00 Changchun World Sculpture Park

If you want a more relaxed, quiet walk through the snow, head to the Changchun World Sculpture Park (长春世界雕塑公园 Chángchūn Shìjiè Diāosù Gōngyuán) at the south end of Renmin Dajie (人民大街). The park, which stretches for 227 acres, encompasses rolling park land and water features, as well as a sculpture hall that displays over 400 works, particularly wood carvings from tribal civilizations across the world (it closes at 15:00). It’s also a great place to watch the sunset, which you can catch as early as 4:00 PM.

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