Before electric heaters, people in northeast China burned fire under their beds to stay warm. Now, it is hard to find heated kangs with real fire due to safety reasons. The revised ones feature heaters beneath the beds.

After a day of cross-country skiing, we ventured out of the hotel to the "Barbecue Street" and experienced the heated kang. It was rather intriguing to taste warm meat while being heated by the kang.

Our group devoted the next day to history in visiting the Puppet Manchurian Palace and the adjacent newly founded Museum of Northeast China History.

"I was surprised at how dark the whole palace is," said Somchai, a visitor from Thailand. "It seems so depressing for an emperor, even though he was the last emperor."

The gloomy ambiance filled the former palace of Henry Puyi, the last emperor of China. The palace cannot be compared to the Forbidden City in Beijing in either its size or decoration. It contains only two buildings with bedrooms and living rooms that housed Puyi and his four wives, a building for imperial feasts, a small horse racing field and a back garden.

If you are looking for luxurious antiques like those in the Forbidden City, this would be a disappointment but it was still a great tour to learn more about Puyi and his life as a puppet emperor.

Like myself, Somchai couldn't finish the tour in the adjacent Museum of Northeast China History. The three-floor museum provided in-depth illustrations documenting the horrible massacres and experiments conducted by the Japanese army in northeast China during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

On a lighter note, Changchun is also known as the "City of Sculpture" since the Changchun International Sculpture Exhibition is held here every other year.

The World Sculpture Park in Changchun is the largest sculpture park in the world built in a city's downtown. The city invites artists from every corner of the world to display their talents and efforts in the park. The sculpture museum now has more than 300 sculptures from more than 130 countries and regions.

Sculpture is not the only art in the city; film is also a big part of the local culture.

Changchun Movie Studio was built in 1942 and is one of the oldest movie studios in the country; it was once considered a film center for the north.

Changchun Film City, which was built in 1987, contains various film scenarios, including Korean sites, fishing sites, a special-effects museum and an ancient Chinese street site among others.

In winter, Changchun, or "Forever Spring" city, is probably the best choice to experience real winter activities without being subjected to the unbearably freezing temperature.

Thanks to China Southern Airlines, which dominates the skies in northeast China, it is convenient to fly to Changchun from Shanghai with three daily flights. In addition, the airline has frequent flights to and from most major cities in China with its expedient e-ticket services.

1

2

3