Three-day tour from Beijing, Yanji and Changbai Mountain border trip

This trip was a Yanji food tour, with a side visit to Changbai Mountain. Although it snowed and we didn’t see the Heavenly Lake, seeing Changbai Mountain covered in heavy snow was even more rare than seeing the lake. Yanji is small and taxis are very cheap. There aren’t many tourist attractions in the city, so we arranged a separate day for a border tour. The scenery along the way exceeded expectations, experiencing both autumn and winter landscapes in one trip. The overall itinerary was: Beijing - Changchun transfer - Changbai Mountain - Yanji - Tumen and Hunchun border tour - Yanji - return to Beijing Day 1⃣️: Thursday night catching the 9 PM train - transfer to high-speed train to Changbai Mountain - brunch - Changbai Mountain day tour - chartered car back to Yanji The train tickets were for soft sleeper, just right for four people in one compartment, but the old green train was a bit noisy at night so didn’t sleep well. 🍚 For lunch, we found a Korean-style hot pot restaurant; the beef was very delicious and the side dishes were great too. The owner even gave us some rice wine. ⛰️ After eating, we took a taxi to the Changbai Mountain North Scenic Area Visitor Center, where luggage storage is free. Some drivers might take you to a nearby parking building where luggage storage costs money and is less secure, so be sure to go to the visitor center. Because it snowed on the mountain, the Heavenly Lake was closed on the day we arrived, and the underground forest scenic area was also closed. We started hiking before 11 AM when the scenic area was still open. The route was: hot springs group -> Changbai Waterfall -> Small Heavenly Lake -> Green Pool. My favorites were Changbai Waterfall and Green Pool. 🏨 We stayed at the All Seasons Hotel near the airport. Around 5 PM, we took a chartered car down the mountain to the hotel in Yanji, rested a bit, then went out to eat at the local friend’s recommended Exclamation Mark Beer House, followed by red bean ice at the popular photo wall. Day 2⃣️: Chartered car border day tour, Quanhe Port - Fangchuan - lunch - Tumen - Yanji Four people paid a total of 700 yuan; the full charter experience was very good. Although we left early, we could sleep along the way. Quanhe Port had nothing much to see, but since we were there, we bought tickets to enter. Fangchuan Scenic Area is quite large and you can see three countries at a glance. The scenery on the road from Hunchun to Tumen is not to be missed. 🍚 Lunch was in Jingxin Town, with large portions of Korean food; the grilled mixed fish was delicious. In Tumen, we took a boat that could locate North Korea, and we saw a close-up image of the sun, which was a very novel experience. We returned to the hotel around 6 PM. For dinner, we had Korean barbecue and fried chicken, all very tasty, then strolled to the popular photo wall for pictures. Day 3⃣️: Folk Culture Park photo shoot - lunch - West Market - flight back to Beijing Originally planned to get up early to visit the morning water market, but couldn’t get up, so didn’t force it. My friends and I had planned to take photos before the trip, found some studios in advance, didn’t book ahead, and in the off-season there was basically no queue on site. We arrived around 9 AM and finished makeup and styling by 11:30 AM, then took photos for half an hour. Overall, the makeup and costumes were good, but I didn’t like the retouching results, so I used my own edited photos in the end. 🍚 Lunch was at Wu’s Rice Wraps, which were really fragrant and delicious. In the afternoon, we went to West Market to buy some local specialties. Yanji Airport is very small; arriving 40 minutes early is completely enough. Next time, planning to come again in summer to see the Heavenly Lake and continue eating and eating.