Changchun

Changchun, the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, sits on the Songliao Plain in Northeast China. It is a sub-provincial city made up of seven districts, one county, and three county-level cities. According to the 2020 census, its total population was 9,066,906, while its metro area—covering five districts and one development zone—had 5,019,477 residents. Two of its districts, Shuangyang and Jiutai, have not yet become urbanized. Alongside Shenyang, Dalian, and Harbin, Changchun ranks among the biggest cities in Northeast China.

The city’s name translates to "long spring" in Chinese. From 1932 to 1945, the Kwantung Army renamed it Xinjing (meaning "new capital") and made it the capital of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, which occupied what is now Northeast China. After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, Changchun became the provincial capital of Jilin in 1954.

Locally called China’s "City of Automobiles," Changchun is a key industrial hub, especially in automotive manufacturing. It has sometimes been referred to as the "Detroit of China" due to its central role in the domestic car industry. The FAW Group, one of China’s "Big Four" state-owned automakers, is headquartered here. Beyond industry, the city was named one of four "National Garden Cities" by China’s Ministry of Construction in 2001, thanks to its high urban greening rate.

Changchun also ranks among the world’s top 30 cities for scientific research, according to the Nature Index 2024 Science Cities. It hosts several major universities, including Jilin University and Northeast Normal University, both part of China’s prestigious Double First-Class Construction initiative.

**History**

**Early history** Changchun began as a small trading post and frontier village, established by imperial decree under the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty. Trade at the time focused on furs and other natural products. In 1800, the emperor chose a small village on the east bank of the Yitong River and named it "Changchun Ting." By the late 18th century, peasants from overcrowded provinces like Shandong and Hebei had started settling in the area. In 1889, the village was upgraded to a city called "Changchun Fu."

**Railway era** In May 1898, Changchun got its first railway station in Kuancheng, part of the Harbin-to-Lüshun line (the southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway), built by the Russian Empire. After Russia lost the southernmost section of this line in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Kuancheng Station became the last Russian station on that branch. Just a short distance south, the new "Japanese" Changchun Station became the first stop on the South Manchuria Railway, which then owned all tracks running farther south to Lüshun. The Japanese regauged those tracks to standard gauge, after briefly using narrow 3 ft 6 in gauge during the war. A 1907 Russo-Japanese agreement allowed Russian-gauge tracks to run from Kuancheng Station to Changchun Station, and standard-gauge tracks from Changchun Station back to Kuancheng Station.

From 1910 to 1911, a pneumonic plague epidemic swept through Manchuria, known as the Manchurian plague. It was the worst recorded outbreak of pneumonic plague, spread via the Trans-Manchurian railway from the border port of Manzhouli, and ultimately claimed 60,000 lives across Manchuria and Mongolia.

**City planning and development: 1906 to 1931** The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, transferred the railway between Changchun and Port Arthur (and all its branches) to Japan in 1906. Recognizing Changchun’s strategic importance for Japan, China, and Russia, the Japanese government sent planners and engineers to find the best site for a new railway station. Without Chinese consent, Japan bought or seized land from local farmers to build Changchun Railway Station as the center of the South Manchuria Railway Affiliated Areas (SMRAA). To make Changchun a hub for extracting Manchuria’s agricultural and mineral resources, Japan developed a blueprint for the city and invested heavily in its construction.

In early 1907, as preparation for invading and occupying China, Japan launched the SMRAA planning program, which had clear colonial features. The guiding design idea was to build a high-standard colonial city with sophisticated facilities, multiple functions, and a large scale. From 1907 to 1931, an average of nearly ¥7 million was allocated each year for urban planning and construction. The comprehensive plan aimed to ensure comfort for Japanese employees on the Manchurian Railways and to turn Changchun into a base for Japanese control over all of Manchuria, countering Russian influence in the region. The city’s role as a rail hub shaped its design: under a conventional grid pattern, two diagonal boulevards were carved eastward and westward from the grand square of the new railway station.