Changchun, China

Location within China

Changchun (Simplified Chinese: 长春; Traditional Chinese: 長春; pinyin: Chángchūn; Wade-Giles: Ch'ang-ch'un) is the capital of the Jilin province in northeastern China. It is a sub-provincial city. The placename means "Eternal Spring". The Changchun metropolitan area has a population of 6.83 million and a population of 2.78 million in its city proper. [1]

History

Changchun was a minor Manchurian trading town from the 18th century. It expanded rapidly as the junction between of the Japanese-owned South Manchurian Railway and the Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railway from 1905-1935. Changchun had railway repair shops and branch lines orginating in Changchun extended into Korea and Inner Mongolia.

In 1932, Changchun became the capital of Manchukuo, a nominally independent puppet state set up by the Japanese in Manchuria, and which existed from 1931 to 1945. Then known as 新京 (Pinyin: Xīnjīng, Wade-Giles: Hsin-ching, Japanese: Shinkyo), the capital was a planned city with broad avenues.

Severely damaged in World War 2, it was caputed by Soviet troops in 1945, who looted the city of everything they could strip. Kuomintang forces occupied the city in 1946, but were unable to hold the countryside against Chinese Communist forces. The city fell to the Red Army in 1948. Renamed Changchun by the Chinese government, it became the capital of Kirin in 1954. From the 1950s, it was designated to become a center for China's automotive industry. The famous [Red Flag limousines was made in Changchun.

Changchun will host the 2007 Winter Asian Games.

Economy

Volkswagen has a manufacturing plant in Changchun.

The GDP per capita was ¥21336 (ca. US$2580) in 2003, ranked no. 52 among 659 Chinese cities.

Colleges and universities

• Jilin University
• Northeast Normal University

Miscellaneous

Changchun has been a sister city of Ulsan, South Korea since 1994.