Changbaishan

[Pravit]

Anyone here ever been to Changbaishan/Paektusan? It seems beautiful, and I'd really like to go. But it also seems difficult to get to, and there is surprisingly little travel information about it on the net. Has anyone been, and how did you get there?

[liuzhou]

there is surprisingly little travel information about it on the net

Google gives 17,900 hits

It is a major tourist destination in Jilin.

[Pravit]

I'm having trouble finding useful information(e.g. directions, detailed blogs, tips) out of all those pages, though. I'm guessing the quickest way from Beijing would be to fly to Yanji and take a bus to Baihe, but I wince at the cost of the plane tickets. So has anyone been?

[md1101]

'student' has been.

check

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8579-chang-bai-shan-%e9%95%bf%e7%99%bd%e5%b1%b1-photos

he's posted some photos of it.. it is very beautiful!

pm him or something

[Pravit]

Hmm, it seems student was in the Jilin area and arranged a tour. I'm going to be in Beijing, though, with only weekends free. I imagine that I could make it if I flew out on a Friday and came back Sunday night or Monday, but it would be really rushed, and I'd have to pay ~$300 for plane tickets. Alternately, I could wait until my course is done, then take the train and spend more time in the NE.

[stephanhodges]

I found this link: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/jilin/changchun/changbai.htm

[md1101]

pravit when you come up with a plan make sure you tell us what it is or how it went... coz id love to go there myself

[carlo]

I was there sometime in 04 I think, hired a taxi with three friends in Jilin City, can't remember how much we spent (very little) but we took about half a day (the driver was apparently training for the Shanghai F1 racetrack, that one trip was about as dangerous as a frequent flyers programme from Air Koryo). I'd suggest you spend a couple of days in Jilin City, I quite enjoyed it back then, smaller and much cleaner than Beijing (unless one of those refineries explodes).

[Pravit]

I'm not sure if I want to go, since it would either be a rushed weekend trip requiring me to buy plane tickets or a longer trip after I'm done in Beijing - but after I'm done in Beijing I'd rather see other places than the northeast. We'll see, though, perhaps I can get a discount on air tickets or something. I'll certainly post about it if I make it there.

http://www.pyongyangsquare.com/plus/beijing/tales/changbaishan.html

This guy had to take an unpleasant-looking tunnel to the top of the mountain, something I haven't read about anywhere else(most people wrote about driving or hiking to the top). The place also looks really crowded, strange considering everything I read about it says that it doesn't have as many tourists as other places. And it's October!

[student]

There did seem to be a trail/tunnel like this leaving from the hot springs area (see photo below). Perhaps in bad weather this is the only way up, but we were ferried to the top in a 4wd vehicle. If the trail/tunnel actually goes to the crater rim, it is around the rim from where I was.

[Pravit]

Hmm! From what I've heard, half of the crater is in North Korea. Can you walk around the crater freely or will North Korean border guards arrest you at the other side?

[student]

My guidebooks all indicated the need to be extremely careful near the border, and to be very sure not to cross it.

[mrtoga]

Been there done that.

Very spectacular actually, although I was there in June when the lake was still frozen over.

I went from Harbin - train to Yanji (I believe) and then a car + driver. We paid him 400 RMB for the day. There were also a few entry tickets to buy, believe it was 80 RMB per person for the privilige of walking up the mountain.

Would be hard to walk over into North Korea by mistake, but possible I guess. Make sure you ask where the border is.

P.S. 95% of the visitors are Koreans - Changbaishan used to be (still is) the most holy mountain in Korea before the area was annexed by China and the country split into South and North. Since the South Koreans cannot enter through North Korea they take the trip up to China instead. Whole area is full of Chaoxianzu....