Changchun

Changchun (長春, "long spring"), the capital of Jilin province in northeast China, is a moderate sized city (4 million), known for its greenery, automotive and film industries, fairly good air quality, and long and cold winters. It was the capital of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state during the 1930s through end of World War II.  Jilin Prov. borders North Korea;  there are ethnic Koreans here, traces of Russian and Japanese influence, and a Muslim population.

My mom and aunt came to visit for a few days.  We saw the "palace" of the last Qing emperor, Puyi, who was installed by the Japanese as the puppet emperor of Manchukuo (cf Bertolucci).  The "palace" was built by the Qing as an administrative center, and was also used as such by the Nationalist government until the Japanese occupation.

We visited the International Sculpture Park, which since 1997 has held biennial symposia to which it invites sculptors from around the world (seems to be a lot from Eastern Europe and developing countries).  Several local people told me that many or most of the sculptures are not originals but copies, which is hard for me to believe.  (But there were copies of Rodin's Thinker and Balzac...)

My host at NENU, Professor Liang, took me to Clear Moon Lake National Forest (净月潭-jingyuetan) just outside the city.  Li Min, who was the graduate TA for our seminar, came with us. The lake and forest were built by the Japanese and it is sometimes called the "sister lake" to Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan.  Prof. Liang said he and his wife, who live nearby, frequent the park as an "oxygen bar."  Indeed there were people in the forest in pup tents and hammocks, a nice way to spend an afternoon. (I don't think there is overnight camping though.)

There were crazy wedding photo shoots taking place around the lake.  This would be something we'd see again in other places (in parks, on the Bund in Shanghai, etc.)  Part of the Chinese nouveau rich life style.