Park of China
Overview
| Designation | AAAAA tourist attraction (2007) Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (seventh batch, 2013, part of the sites of the Manchukuo palace and the Japanese and puppet military and government offices) |
| Province | Jilin |
| Location | Guangfu North Road, Kuancheng District, Changchun, Jilin |
| Latitude, longitude | 43.90, 125.34 Google Maps |
| Highlights | The former Manchukuo palace, early modern buildings, historical exhibitions |
| Top sights | Qinmin Building, Jixi Building, Tongde Hall, the exhibition on the occupation of north-east China |
| Nearby cities | Changchun |
| Nearby sites | The Eight Ministries, Changchun 5km, Jingyue Lake 17km, Songhua Lake 120km Search nearby |
| 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.
The palace was divided into an outer court for state affairs and an inner court for the household. Besides the Qinmin, Jixi and Tongde buildings there are the Huaiyuan Building, with a banquet hall and ancestral shrine, and the Jiale Hall, also used for banquets.
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 | Yongling Tomb of the Qing 248km, Fuling Tomb of the Qing 271km, Mukden Palace, Shenyang 281km, Wunv Shancheng 287km |
| National parks | Eight Ministries–Jingyue Lake Scenic Area 9km, Songhua Lake 120km, Sun Island 232km |
| Detailed guides | The Eight Ministries, Changchun 5km |
| 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 |
| National key parks | Changchun Shijie Diaosu Park 9km |
| 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 |
| National geoparks | Siping National Geopark 114km |
| Nature reserves | Boluo Lake National Nature Reserve 75km |