Changbai Mountain, a dormant volcano and the highest peak in Northeast China at 2,750 meters above sea level, is one of three 5A scenic areas in Jilin Province (the other two are Jingyuetan and the Puppet Imperial Palace, which are quite far from Changbai Mountain…). As a native of Jilin Province, I had surprisingly never been here before… It turns out that it was well worth the visit; it’s an absolutely beautiful place, and the trip definitely lived up to expectations.
Within China, Changbai Mountain has the West Slope, North Slope, and South Slope, while the eastern side lies within North Korea. The North Slope was developed first and attracts the most visitors; you can take a shuttle bus directly to Heavenly Lake, but the viewing area isn’t very open, with rocks on both sides allowing only a glimpse of the lake through a gap in the middle. The South Slope was developed last and likely opened recently; it also offers direct shuttle access to Heavenly Lake, but due to heavy rain the previous night, it was closed. The West Slope was developed later than the North Slope and is said to offer the best scenery. It is also the closest attraction to Wanda Town, though reaching Heavenly Lake requires climbing 1,440 steps on your own.
Before 9:00 AM that morning, we drove from our hotel to the entrance of the Changbai Mountain West Scenic Area. The distance was less than 30 km, taking just over half an hour. The road was lined with beautiful trees on both sides, and traffic was light. Parking at the scenic area was free, and there weren’t many cars—mostly taxis waiting for passengers. The weather hadn’t been great earlier; after the rain the previous night, it remained cloudy the next day, raising concerns that we might not see Heavenly Lake. Surprisingly, however, there was no fog on the mountain at all. There are two major attractions within the scenic area: Heavenly Lake and Jinjiang Grand Canyon. The remaining minor spots can be seen quickly. The entire tour takes about five hours, so time management is essential. Ticket sales stop at 2:00 PM, and even if you enter at that time, you’d likely only have enough time to visit either Heavenly Lake or the Grand Canyon.
Tickets must be purchased at the entrance: admission is 125 yuan per person, shuttle fare is 85 yuan per person, plus 5 yuan for insurance, totaling 215 yuan per person. It gets much windier and colder on the mountain than at the base, and coats are available for rent at the gate—which proved quite useful, as it turned out… After walking a short distance into the park, we reached the shuttle boarding point. The ride up the mountain road was incredibly scenic. Passing through mixed deciduous broadleaf forests, Korean pine mixed forests, Korean pine and spruce-fir forests, Erman’s birch and fir forests, alpine Erman’s birch forests, and finally the alpine tundra zone, we arrived at the Heavenly Lake parking lot.
There are restrooms and food and water vendors at the parking lot, but once you start climbing the stairs, none of those facilities are available anymore… There’s also a coat rental spot here; if visiting in summer, I recommend renting one at this location so you don’t have to carry it around at other stops… If autumn temperatures aren’t too warm, renting at the entrance is fine too.
After that, there’s not much else to say—it’s just stair climbing… Actually, it’s not that high compared to China’s famous mountains… It doesn’t even compare to Shanghai’s skyscrapers. I heard there was recently a vertical marathon held somewhere, and seeing their times left me absolutely stunned… But for us folks from the Northeast plains, opportunities to climb mountains are relatively rare…
Once we climbed up, we saw Heavenly Lake—the water was so blue and calm… I’ve heard that catching a clear view of Heavenly Lake isn’t easy since the mountain is often shrouded in fog, blocking the view entirely~~ So we were pretty lucky to see it on our first attempt, especially with such gorgeous weather.
We’d seen plenty, taken enough photos, and rested sufficiently~~ There wasn’t anything else to do up there… so it was time to head back down. Descending was so much easier than climbing up…
Then we took the shuttle to the next attraction: Jinjiang Grand Canyon.
Photos in this post were taken with a SONY NEX-5R + 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, edited in Lightroom.
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