National Parks of China
Overview
| Province | Jilin |
| Latitude, longitude | 43.90, 125.34 Google Maps |
| Themes | Palace, Museum, Modern-era architecture, Culture |
About
The museum in Changchun, Jilin, occupies the former palace of the puppet state of Manchukuo. Japan set up Manchukuo in 1932 with Changchun, renamed Xinjing, as its capital. Puyi, the last Qing emperor, was installed first as “Chief Executive” and from 1934 as “Emperor”, and lived and worked here until Japan’s surrender in 1945. The palace was converted from the offices of the former Jilin–Heilongjiang salt transport bureau, and its buildings mix Chinese and Western styles.
The main buildings are the Qinmin Building, where state business was conducted, the Jixi Building, where Puyi and his family lived, and the Tongde Hall, completed in 1938 but never occupied by Puyi; the rooms are furnished as they were at the time. A separate exhibition hall covers the fourteen years of Japanese occupation of north-east China.
Travel tips
Getting there: the museum is in the city; take Changchun Rail Transit Line 4 to Weiman Huanggong (Puppet Regime Palace Museum) Station, or go by bus or taxi.
Time: half a day.
Season: mostly indoors, so any time of year; Changchun winters are severe.
Nearby: the Eight Ministries around Xinmin Street were Manchukuo government offices; Jingyue Lake is on the south-east edge of the city.
Photo credits: Tongde Hall seen from the East Imperial Garden: N509FZ (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Nearby
| World Heritage | Mukden Palace, Shenyang 281km |
| National parks | The Eight Ministries, Changchun 5km, Songhua Lake 120km, Sun Island 232km |
| AAAAA attractions | Changchun World Sculpture Park Tourist Area 9km, Jingyue Lake 17km, Changying Century City Tourist Area 17km, Chagan Lake Scenic Area 172km |
| AAAA attractions | Confucius Culture Park 2km, Changchun Zoological and Botanical Park 4km, Jilin Provincial Natural History Museum 5km, Changying Former Site Museum 6km |
| Historic cities | Jilin City 97km |
| Cities | Changchun 3km, Jilin City 101km |
| Historical sites | Puppet Manchukuo Imperial Palace and Sites of Japanese-Puppet Military and Political Institutions <1km, Site of the Jichang Circuit Intendant's Office <1km, Site of the Central Bank of Manchukuo 3km, Early Buildings of the Changchun Film Studio 6km |