5 Days in Jilin — Rime & the Songhua

Beishan's temple courts draw their big fairs on the 18th and 28th days of the fourth lunar month; the Confucian temple, founded in 1736, sits near the river, and the embankment walk runs below.

1. jilin beishan park
2. jilin confucius temple
3. jilin songhua riverfront

About 35 km north in Wula Street township — go out before dawn on cold, clear, windless mornings below about -15°C, when mist off the dam outflow, held a steady 2-4°C, ices the trees. Peak months run December to February.

1. jilin wusong island

The lake begins about 20 km southeast at the dam begun in 1937 — boat piers in summer, a lakeshore drive, and the outflow that feeds the rime downstream.

1. jilin songhua lake
2. jilin fengman dam

Longtan's 388-metre summit carries a hill-fort with walls from the Goguryeo period (37 BC-668 AD) and a rain pool cut into living rock; Zhuque, the city's southern guardian hill, adds a short forest climb.

1. jilin longtan mountain
2. jilin zhuque mountain

A steaming market breakfast — dumplings, baked cakes, warm soy milk — and a last riverside look before the train from Jilin station.

1. jilin morning markets