It is easy to have a quick look at China's past and present, but it takes time to gain a panoramic knowledge of China. The "Pan-oramic China" series is meant to assist readers, especially those overseas, in this respect. Each volume in the series focuses on a province, municipality or autono-mous region, describing, with illustrations, the outstanding char-acteristics of each area from dif-ferent perspectives.

More than 200 years ago,great numbers of creative people,inured to hardship and hard work,came to Jilin Province from areas south of the Shanghaiguan Pass to seek their livelihood in northeast China. They gathered ginseng, logged, rafted and reclaimed wilderness in the vast virgin forest and the Jilin Plains formed by the Songhua River. As the father mountain and mother river that have nurtured generations of Jilin people, Changbai Mountain and the Songhua River have become synonymous with Jilin Province. This book vividly depicts Changbai Mountain and the Songhua River-the purity,productiveness and lush beauty,along with the people who live there.

Foreword

Changbai，Father Mountain of the Jilin People

A Sacred Mountain /6

Mountain Abounding in Resources / 11

Water Flows Out Though No Water Flows In / 18

Monster in Tianchi /24

Changhai Mountain Waterfall /34

Divine Water of Changbai Mountain /39

"Luxurious" Civilian Lifea42

"Beauty Pine" /44

Underground Forest /48

Goddess Bathing Pool /50

Reaching the North Pole in Half a Day /56

Tizi River /66

The Great Gorge of Changbai Mountain /69

One Buddha as Three Mountains, and Three

Mountains Form One Buddha / 72

"Union of Pine and Birch" / 78

"A Stone That Floats in Water, and Wood That

Sinks" /82

A Land of Song and Dance /88

An Ethnic Group in White Clothes /94

Unique Food /96

An Ethnic Group Respecting the Old and

Cherishing the Young /98

Marriage Customs / I00

Eastern Pyramid / 104

No. 1 Stele in the East / 106

ATreasure House of Art in Northeastern Asia / 108

Two Sources Far Apart / 137

A Charming "Heavenly River" / 140

Gentle and Harsh "Unsealing River" / 148

Fishers on Qagan Nur / 152

Offering Sacrifices to the Lake for Fishing / 156

Into the Nature Reserve / 162

Dancing with Red-crowned Cranes / 167

Sacred Elms in "Sea of Incense" / 172

Jilin Rime, the Fourth Natural Wonder in China / 180

Three Types of Lanterns of Jilin / 187

Langmu, a Wood Harder Than Iron and Stone / 192

The "Detroit" of China / 196

"Hollywood" of the East /202

"Imperial Palace" of the Manchukuo Puppet Regime /204

City in the Forest /206

Huanglongfu City /210

Huge Crowds Watching "Two-person Song

and Dance Duet" /214

A Dish Braised in A Big Pot /220

Fiery Hotpot /222

Restorative Mountain Delicacies /223

Concluding Remarks

Appendices