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Places in China: Jinlin Province

Jilin Province in north eastern China, near to both North Korea and Russia, is a very good grain-producing province. As well as providing a large percentage of China's grain, the province also has some highly-valued specialty products, three of which are mink, ginseng and the antlers of pilose deer.

Located far in the northern sections of China, Jilin has short, rainy summers with cold weather in the winters. This makes for winter sports' popularity as well as their Ice Lantern Spectacle to attract tourists. Winter tourism is augmented by the ski resorts in the province allowing winter enthusiasts to spend the evenings after a day of wintry activities.

Although the population density is rather low for China at 257 persons per square kilometre, the per-capita income is high as are the literacy rates. Since the province borders North Korea, two-thirds of the ethnic Korean population of China lives in Jilin Province. Two cities near the Korea border, Jilin City and Changchun, have quite high Korean populations.

The population of the province is around twenty-seven million people who occupy 187,400 square kilometres of land area. Until the 1600s, the province was populated by loosely-federated tribes. Then, the Manchu set up a military government in the town of Jilin, after which the province was named. In 1907, Jilin became a province of China although it was lost to Japan for a while in the 1930s.

The Songhua River is the longest river in Jilin Province. Mostly hills and plains cover the province although the Changbai Mountains (black earth mountains) and Mount Zhangguangcai are on the edges.

The capital city of the province is Changchun, an industrial city. Its claim to fame in China includes its history in China's film industry as well as being the home of First Automobile Works, one of the country's most important car manufacturing facility. Sometimes Changchun is referred to as 'motor city'. Railways and industrialization came to the province in the 1800s. However, some of the factories were relocated to the Soviet Union in the 1940s.

Formerly, Jilin was a part of Manchuria along with the provinces of Liaoning and Heilongjiang. Sometimes the province is nicknamed "Ji" for short. There are some unusual plants and animals in Jilin including Manchurian tigers and hares as well as leopards. Some snakes even are native to Jilin Province. Some local farmers keep them as rat catchers in orchards and farm buildings.