Changchun is the capital city of Jilin Province with a population of 7.24 million, located in the northeast of China close to the famous Changbai Mountains. It is a welcoming, modern city with excellent infrastructure and the reputation of being a ''Spring City'', ''Automobile City'', ''Forest City'', ''Film City'' and ''Granary of North China''. 

• Spring City – Changchun is situated at the heart of the Songliao Plain in the northeast of China, at 124'18" - 127'02" east longitude, 43'05" - 45'15" north latitude, and at 250 - 350 meters above the sea level. The city is at the center of the three northeast provinces. With four clear-cut seasons and favorable temperature in the mild temperate zone, Changchun has an annual average temperature of 5.2 degrees, a rainfall of 522 - 615 mm, and a sunshine time of 2,688 hours, thus being called "Spring City". The name, which means "Long Spring", originated from the Jurchen language ^[1-2].

• Automobile City – On 15 July 1953, with the cracking sounds of the foundation-laying stone ceremony, Chinese people started the construction of the first automobile manufacturing plant, opening the new page in the automobile manufacturing history of China. Today it has established five international companies in Asia, Africa, Europe and America, set up 11 subsidiaries and representative organizations, and established business relationships with more than 1,000 enterprises, trading companies, representatives and agencies in more than 80 countries. Its export volumes have grown to USD 4,110 million from a mere USD 30 million, with exporting 43,000 commercial and passenger vehicles ^[3].

• Forest City –  Changchun launched “forest city” program in 1989. The green land constructions in Changchun have so far grown into scale, forming a comprehensive virescence system, a combination of “points, lines and spaces”, with plenty of trees lining around the city and its suburbs. Courtyards, squares and parks embellished with systematical streets and lanes, weave the city into a picturesque green landscape. In 2004, the total urban virescence area had amounted to 7516 hectares, making the virescence rate 39 per cent of Changchun rank highly in China ^[4].

• Film City – The first film production base in China - the famous Changchun Film Studio, which was named as Northeast Film Studio originally, is also located in Changchun. Established in 1945, Changchun Film Studio is regarded as the cradle of Chinese films ^[5].

• Granary of North China –  With high quality and fertile blackland, Changchun is an ideal place for growing of crops. Among the top 100 large grain-production-counties, five of them come from the city of Changchun. Three of the five are among the top 10 including Nong’an county and Yu Shu City which rank the first and the second place. Changchun is the seat of Golden Corn Belt of the world. The annual corn production is around 7.5 million tons. She is also the main producing area of the “Dongbei Rice”, the best quality rice in China ^[6].
  

[1] http://en.changchun.gov.cn/e/csmp.aspx?ID=8

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changchun

[3] http://en.changchun.gov.cn/e/csmp.aspx?ID=7

[4] http://en.changchun.gov.cn/e/csmp.aspx?ID=5

[5] http://en.changchun.gov.cn/e/csmp.aspx?ID=6

[6] http://en.changchun.gov.cn/e/csmp.aspx?ID=2

The 3M-NANO website photos were provided by Miss Ting Wu (Photography Association of Changchun) , Dr Jinxian Wang (CUST) and Mr Liren Zhao.