Getting There-- At press time, a new commercial airport was scheduled to open by the time you read this book.Flightsat the time of this writing were to/from a civil/military airfield 10km (6 miles) west of town. They included daily flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Dalian, and twice-weekly flights to Hong Kong (Tues and Fri). TheChina Eastern Airlinesticket office (Zhonguo Beifang Hangkong Shoupiao Chu;tel.0431/272-5001and 0431/272-5026; open 8am-4:40pm) is at Xinfa Lu 32, through the second door on the building's west side. A taxi from downtown to the airport takes 20 minutes and costs ¥23 ($3). Or take bus no. 364 (40 min.; 6:30am-7pm; ¥1/15¢) from the northwest side of Renmin Guangchang.
Expresstrainsconnect to Beijing (three daily; 9 hr.; ¥298/$37), Harbin (two daily; 3 hr.; ¥41/$5), Shenyang (14 daily; 4 hr.; ¥47/$6), Jilin City (10 daily; 2 hr.; ¥20/$3), Shanghai (3:15pm; 27 hr.; ¥437/$55), and Dalian (8:35pm; 11 hr.; ¥183/$23). The railway station (Changchun Zhan) is north of downtown, at the top of Renmin Dajie.
Air-conditionedbusesto Harbin (all day; 3 hr.; ¥69/$9) and Shenyang (all day; 3 1/2 hr.; ¥72/$9) and the express bus to Jilin City (all day; 1 1/2 hr.; ¥30/$4) leave from a white building at Renmin Dajie 6 (behind the Chunyi Binguan). Regular minibuses to Jilin City (3 hr.; ¥15/$2) leave every few minutes from the north side of the building. Privatecarsleave from the railway station parking lot for cities east; prices are negotiable (¥150/$19 to Yanji is reasonable).
Getting Around-- Jettataxischarge ¥5 (65¢) for the first 2.5km (1 1/2 miles), then ¥1.30 (15¢) per kilometer.Buses(¥1-¥2/15¢-25¢) are pay-as-you-board. Bus no. 6 runs from the railway station through the middle of town on Renmin Dajie; bus nos. 62 and 362 both wind from the railway station to Renmin Guangchang and pass Xinmin Guangchang, with stop announcements in English.