Things To Do in Changchun

Changchun's chief attraction is the ghost of Japanese occupation, which still lingers in the more than two dozen ministry buildings left scattered throughout the city. The former Kwantung Army headquarters is an impeccably preserved Japanese-style castle on Xinfa Lu (now occupied by the Communist Party) near the China Northern Airlines ticket office. Guards might let you roam around the grounds if you promise not to take pictures. There are also a number of buildings lining Xinmin Lu south of the Wenhua Guangchang (Culture Square), site of a never-completed imperial Japanese palace and now home to the main building of Jilin University. The grim building southeast of the square, fronted by a statue of infamous Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, is the former site of the Wei Manzhou Guo Guowuyuan (Manchukuo State Council). A bizarre English-language tour here (8:30am-6pm; ¥20) includes a ride in a 70-year-old solid brass Otis elevator once used by Henry Puyi. Bilingual maps are available (¥5) at the Wei Huanggong.

Changchun is one of China's top producers of ginseng, available in any one of the city's ubiquitous pharmacies. For more conventional shopping, try the upscale Chongqing Lu or Guilin Lu (east of the Tongzhi Jie intersection), a hip and haphazard street lined with Korean clothing shops and stuffed-animal stores. The underground market in front of the railway station was once part of an underground bomb shelter connected by tunnels to the Manchukuo ministries.

Changchun is the birthplace of the first errenzhuan theater, Heping Daxiyuan (Heping Theatre). The popular Dongbei entertainment is a mix of stand-up comedy and opera that is thoroughly vulgar and, for those who can understand Dongbei dialect, very amusing. Real fans head to the raucous, smoke-filled Heping Daxiyuan, a block north of the post office on Renmin Dajie (tel. 0431/893-4304), where tawdry performances get audiences roaring with laughter and keep them that way most of the night. Nightly shows at 7:40pm cost ¥30 to ¥180. The Longli Lu, near Guilin Lu and Remin Jie, is the "Bar Area," with a number of local bars. One of the two popular disco clubs is Mayflower (Wuyuehua Jiuba; tel. 0431/893-322), tucked underground on the south side of the Wenhua Huodong Zhongxin on Renmin Dajie. The club is so well-received that it opened its second branch in the city inside Shangri-La Hotel. SOS Storm (Qian Ren SOS Storm; tel. 0431/8564-6060) on Fujin Lu 9, organized the first international music festival in Changchun in late 2006, is popular with foreigners, and stays open late.