Lying in Jilin Province on the border between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a well-known mountain range known as the Changbia or Ever White Mountain. It is a region inhabited by an overwhelming majority of the Korean minority nationality in China.
The name Ever White derives from the fact that the mountain peaks here are perennially covered by snow, as most of them tower more than 1 000 metres above sea level.

The Changbai Mountain is here and there covered wit magmatic rocks. In many places in the mountain can be seen the special scenic features of lava plateaus and traces of past volcanic activity. What is known as Tian'Chi in Chinese or the Lake of Heaven of Mount Baitou is a crater lake.

The Lake of Heaven on the summit of Mount Baitou, the main peak of the Changbai Mountain, is a typical alpine lake with an elevation of 2194 metres above sea level. It is also the boundary lake between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The tub-shaped Lake of Heaven covers an area of 9.2 sq km with a depth of 312.7 metres at the deepest spot. The water level remains constant as it is being fed by springs and the lake in turn feeds water perennially into some nearby rivers and streams. The Second Songhua (Sungari) River which is the upper reaches of the Songhua takes its rise at the mountain. The water in the lake is comparatively cold and the lake remains frozen half of the time each year. Surrounded by picturesque mountain peaks on all sides, some standing very high and some rather squat, setting each other off to advantage, it is a region boasting a unique landscapic beauty, a beauty further accentuated by the presence of snow and ice when the tallest of the peaks, Mount Baitou, and its companions look like pure white lotus flowers. When the lake freezes over, the snow lies thick over it, looking like a pre white velvety or woolly carpet. When the ice melts in summer, the lake can at times be so placid as to have a mirror-like surface and the reflections of the snow-capped peaks will be shimmering in the reply water. At such a beautiful sight, one will feel completely relaxed and tranquil at heart. But at times the lake can also present a soul-stirring and awe-inspiring sight when the strong winds toss up waves a metre high, like the surging billows in the sea. The Changbai Mountain is rich in natural resources. The forests in the region, with many varieties of trees such as Korean pine, larch and what is known in Chinese as yu'lin'song or fish scale pine, constitute one of the most important forest zones in China. In the forests are also grown a variety of medicinal herbs, including ginseng and such delicacies as mushroom, fungus and wild grapes. For rare animals, there are sable, sika, Manchurian tiger, bear, etc. Of the special indigenous products of the region, ginseng, pilose antler and sable fur are considered "the three treasures of northeast China" or "the three treasures of Changbai". About the Lake of Heaven and the three treasures there are many folk stories in circulation among the local Koreans. Of these, one is very interesting.

Once upon a time, according to the story, the Changbai Mountain is not a part of the human world, but a part of the fairy kingdom of the Jade Emperor where flowers bloom and trees grow luxuriantly all the year round.

The name of the mountain is then the Mountain of Ten Thousand Fragrances or Wan'Xiang'Shan in Chinese, and the name of the lake on the summit, the Dragon King Pool. The water in the pool is made up of three layers. The upper layer is black, the middle layer green and the lower layer white. On the third day of the third moon each year which is the day the Fairy Mother Queen gives her banquet of peaches, the Jade Emperor will take the gods after the banquet to the Mountain of Ten Thousand Fragrances to see the longevity flower.

It is said that the third daughter of the Black Water Dragon King is a most lovely girl, no less beautiful and elegant then the longevity flower. Although she lives in a big palace with beautiful gardens and halls, she is a little fed up with life there as everything looks so familiar to her. So one day when she finds that her brother the second prince has nothing serious to do, she urges him to take her out the pool to see what the human world is like.

The second prince says to her, "Don't you think it's easy to go to the human world! The Dragon King Pool is protected by a series of three flood-gates each of which is fastened with a golden lock. The three golden keys are put away in the treasure box of our father. Only when he is away in the Palace of Heaven for business will it be possible for us to try to get at the keys and get out of the pool. Today we can only go out of the palace and take a walk somewhere near the fringe."

While the third princess is by no means satisfied, the only thing she can do is to follow her brother out of the palace for whatever amusement they might find within the pool. While they are sauntering playfully outside the palace, the sad and sorrowful cries of some animal come to their attention. They walk up to it and the third princess asks, " Why are you crying so pitifully here, you ugly little thing?" The little animal sobs out its reply, " Oh, please don't feel offended by my ugly look, Princess. I am a sable from the human world. My mother is seriously ill. So I summoned up courage to steal inhere to get the longevity flower. But I was caught and am imprisoned here. As I am worried about my mother, I cannot help but cry so sorrowfully." At the sight of this strange little being from the human world, the princess asks with great curiosity, "Ah, you must know a great deal of the human world. Tell us what things are like out there."

In reply, the sable says, " Oh, the human world is a far more interesting place than the Mountain of Ten Thousand Fragrances or the pool here. There the sun shines by day and at night there is the beautiful moonlight. It is such a big world that there is no end to it and over it is the boundless blue sky. There are beautiful mountains and rivers and all kids of delicious things to eat. There, men and women work hard and their world becomes more and more beautiful form one generation to the next. It's not in the least like the cold and lonely world you have here."

The second prince now puts in a remark, " Indeed, the human world seems to be a more interesting place to live. But then the people there cannot live forever. They die!"

The third princess chimes in then, " But the longevity flower can cure every disease and stamp out every plague. Life will then be prolonged. If we take the longevity flower with us to the human world, ordinary mortals will enjoy longevity too!"

The sable is beside itself with joy at what the princess says, adding, "The human world is not far form here. Once we get out of the flood-gates and walk past the meeting point of three rivers, we are there!" This makes the prince sigh, "But we don't have the keys to the flood-gates. Father keeps them. Only when he leaves the palace will we have the chance to get at the keys." To this the sable rejoins, turning to the third princess, " If you take me back to the palace, I'll get the keys for you."

The sable is a nimble little animal and moves with great agility. Not long after it enters the palace, it returns with the keys in its mouth. Then with the sable leading the way, the princess and the prince, with the longevity flower in the princess's hand, come to the world of human beings. With one wave of the longevity flower, the mountains and fields are instantly covered with flowers of the same kind.

When the news that the second prince and the third princess of the Black Water Dragon King have gone to the human world with the longevity flower comes to the ears of the Jade Emperor, the latter flies into a rage. He orders his guards to go and seize them. In the ensuing fight, the prince and the princess are of course no match for the guards. They are thinking of going back to the Dragon King Pool for help. But to their surprise and dismay, they find they have been disowned by the Black Water Dragon King who is coming with his aids to get them too;. Desperate, the second prince says to his sister, " My sister, we had better not be fairies any more. Let us stay on here." With this said, he takes his sister's hand and with one tumble and roll on the ground they turn into two sika deer and disappear into the woods. But in their hurry the prince has forgotten to do anything to their dragon horns. That is why, people say, sika deer have antlers looking like dragon horns.

The Jade Emperor becomes all the more furious when he learns that his guards have failed in their mission. He orders then the Goddess of Wind and the God of Snow to do what they can with the place where the prince and princess turned into sika deer. Thus even the Mountain of Ten Thousand Fragrances has become a kingdom of ice and snow. Hence the name Chang'Bai or Ever White as the mortals call it. As a punishment, the Black Water Dragon King is ordered to leave the Dragon King Pool which then becomes Tian'Chi or Lake of Heave. The longevity flower, people say, is today's ginseng.

As the longevity flower has cured the mother sable of her disease, the family thrives. The deer now roam about peacefully and light-heartedly in the forested world, enjoying the company of sables and ginseng. Thus the Changbai Mountain has become the home of "the three treasures of northeast China".

In the interest of environmental protection and conservation of natural resources, there has been instituted in the region what is now known as the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve which centers around the primeval forests on the mountain slopes surrounding the Lake of Heaven on the north, east and west side. Here the environment and the ecosystems remains in their natural state, well protected and never willfully tampered with, with the result that the region is teeming wit all kinds of living things. The scenery here is uniquely beautiful, with mountain peaks, forests, lakes, waterfalls, hotsprings and what not. Together they make the region a world-class masterpiece of mother nature.

The Changbai Mountain Waterfall lies at the northern end of the Lake of Heaven, offering a spectacular sight with a fall of 68 metres and creating a thundering noise when it strikes the rocks and water below. About 900 metres further north is the site of the Baishan Hotsprings. Exuding a steamy vapor all the year round, the group of hotsprings covers an area of more than 1000 square metres, the hottest of them registering a constant high 82℃ in all seasons. Thanks to the presence of many mineral salts including hydrogen sulphide, the water here has a good therapeutic effect on many kinds of disease. Now there are a number of sanatoriums to cater for the visitors.

At the Changbai Mountain visitors can drink in to their heart's content the full beauty of natual scenery, with the snow-capped mountain, the endless forests, the waterfall, the hotsprings, etc. That is why some people have said admiringly of the region, " Ah, the Alps in China!"

People who want to visit the Changbai Moutain can take the train in Jilin City for the County of Antu and there change to a bus for the County of Helong and then further into the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve. Once there, the Lake of Heaven and what are known as the three treasures will be within easy reach.

Other places of historical and cultural interest in the Province of Jilin, a part from the Lake of Heaven on Mount Baitu, include: in the City of Jilin, the Songhua Lake and the remains of an ancient city on Longtan Hill; in the County of Nongan, the Liao Dynasty tower and the remains of the Jin Dynasty Yellow Dragon Mansion; in the City of Tonghua, the Tomb of Yang Jingyu the anti-Japanese guerrilla hero; and in the City of Dunhua, the remains of the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Bohai Sea.