Jilin Province has plentiful, excellent and favorable tourist resources— unique places of cultural interest and various natural scenic spots of all shapes and kinds.

　　Natural and Humanistic Scenic Spots

　　“With the peaks holding up the Heavenly Lake and rare wonders hidden in the sea of forest”,the Changbaishan Mountains in the east of the province is a specialplace for everybody. In 1983 Deng Xiaoping climbed up the Changbaishan Mountains and exclaimed that “it would be a life-long regret if you don't climb Changbai”. The Heavenly Lake in the Changbaishan Mountains is the biggest craterlake in China. The legend about the monster in the Heavenly Lake adds to the mystery of the body of water. Coming down from one side of the lake, the Changbaishan Falls seem like a long-piece of white ribbon. The falls are the origin of the Songhuajiang, Tumenjiang and Yalujiang rivers. A vast desolate panorama is formed by the Grand Changbai Canyon’s (discovered just a few years ago) grotesque peaks, fantastic rocks, deep and secluded valleys, beautiful waters, ancient trees, and rare grasses. The silvery Jilin frost carries a poetic and artistic conception of spring; it is considered “Spring in Winter”. Jilin’sfrost is one of the four great natural wonders in China. The other three are Guilin's landscape, the stone Forest in Yunnan, and the Three Gorges of the Yantze River. In 1991, on his inspection tour of Jilin, President Jiang Zeminpoetically praised the scenery of “frostclad willows on the banksof the cold river, trees with blossoms carved out of flawless white jade.” A national scenic spot, the choppy Songhuahu Lake is lined by green trees and reflections of the mountains in the water, too much for the eye to take in. Sanjiaolongwan, the deep crater of an ancient volcano now filled with water, is a truly beautiful place. Changchun, in the middle of the province, has Jingyuetan reservoir. It has crystal clear water and vast stretches of green trees. It is a national forest park and is thought to be the biggest man-made forest in Asia. The Xianghai Nature Preservation Zone at Tongyu in the west has great biodiversity, and of China’s sevenmain wetlandsit is the largest. The World Wildlife Fund rated it as a Class A nature preserve on the list of World-Famous Wet Lands. The Clay Forest at Qian'an presents all kinds of shapes and figures in different postures and is of infinite interest. Owing to the different shapes, it is alsocalled the “embankment of wolves teeth”, andbecause of the feeling of terror that it gives, it is also called the “haunted valley”.
　　The splendid Gaogouli Relics in Ji'an, which has been listed in the World Heritage, are well known worldwide. The “Grand General's Tomb” is regarded as an “Oriental Pyramid”. Haotaiwang Stele is a treasure of Chinese tablet engraving. The fine carvings on the architecture of the buildings in the ancient town of Yehenara at Siping embody the principal features of Man culture.It is a place of interest noted for the local customs. The Imperial Palace in Changchun is where Puyi, the Manchurian puppet emperor resided. It has been designated by the state as an important place for patriotic education. There are also buildings where the state council and the eight ministries of the Manchurian puppet regime functioned as the governing center. The Japanese palace style complex is listed as a Jilin cultural relic. The ancient town of Huanglongfu in Nong'an County used to be an important settlement and economic and cultural center of the Liao and Jin Dynasties. The Liao Pagoda in the county is famous far and wide.

　　Furthermore, the town of Aodong of the Bohai Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty located at Dunhua, the Lingguangta Pagoda of the Tang Dynasty at Changbai, the dragon and tiger stone carving of the Qing Dynasty in Hunchun, the Confucian Temple in Jilin, Diaoshuihu Karst Cave in Shuangyang County, the Guanma Cave in Panshi, the volcanoes in Yitong, the Five Women Peak in Ji'an, Lafa Mountain in Jiaohe, Luotongshan Mountain in Liuhe, Shanmen at Siping, Xianjingtai in Helong County, Fangchuan at Hunchun, etc. are all natural and humanistic scenic spots. All of the above are shining diamonds spread over the vast space of the province. They are so enchanting that tourists from both home and overseas are unable to tear themselves away once they are there.
　　The Jilin Meteor Shower

　　At 2 minutes and 36 seconds after 3 o'clock on March 18th, 1976, meteors showered down on the northwestern suburbs of Jilin City and onYongji County, covering an area of 500 square kilometers. The 138 pieces of meteorite collected, weighed 2,616 kilograms. The largest piece, Meteorite 1 weighs 1,770 kilograms and isthe largest meteorite inthe world. The shower’s wide coverage and the number of fragment collected and their combined weight are exceptionally rare. The meteorite specimens are on display in the Jilin Meteorite Museum, the only museum of its kind in China.

　　Tourist Products

　　After years of construction and development, the tourist spots of Jilin Province have grown to more than 300 innumber, a network consisting of Jingyuetan Lake at Changchun, Songhuahu Lake, Beidahu Ski Run in Jilin City, and the Xianghai Marsh in Tongyu County, with the eco-tourism area in the Changbaishan Mountains as the highlight. In terms of the nature of tourism, the former monotonous sightseeing model has changed into a varied range of options including ecological tours, winter tours, border visits, historical site tours, local custom tours and holiday tours. These options form a new pluralist multilevel structure full of unique features and characteristics. The ecological attractions such as winter tours, forest and wetland tours and visits to the adjacent countries have become the most appealing tourist products.
　The Tourism Economy

　　Intoday’s new situation Jilin’s tourist industry is in full blossom. It is already an important growth point of the economic development. In 2004, Jilin’s tourism realized a total revenue of 18.4 billion RMB yuan, an increase of 29.8% over the previous year. In order to promote the development of the tourism economy, Jilin Province gives its special support and fostering to tourism as a specially industry, quicken the conformity of resources and highlight the brand of Changbaishan Mountains. In accordance with the Overall Plan for Tourism Development in Jilin Province, the province will expediate the construction of four tourism delicacies of Changbaishan Mountains, Gaogouli Relics, Changchun Film Wonderland and Jilin’s Frost, develop red tourism resources of Siping Battles, General Yang Jingyu’s Memorial, Four Defendings of Linjiang and so on and give priorities to eco-tour, ice and snow tour, local customs tour, border tour and industrial tour, etc. In addition, the province will vigorously launch the campaign of “Colorful Jilin Tour”, strengthen the publicity, marketing and resource management, upgrade the popularity and expand the influence of Jilin’s tourism so as to ensure the rapid development of the tourism industry of Jilin Province.