Heping (Peace) District is the central residential and commercial heart of Changchun, containing the highest concentration of Manchukuo-era buildings, the main shopping streets, and much of the city's hotel and restaurant infrastructure. Walking Heping District is effectively the same as walking central Changchun — the two overlap almost entirely.
The neighbourhood has the texture of a northeastern Chinese city centre that has grown continuously since the 1930s: old colonial-era buildings on widened streets, the occasional surviving older streetscape compressed between later towers, the mix of department stores and small shops that sustains daily commerce. The best approach is to pick a starting point near the Imperial Palace Museum and walk outward, noting the buildings that catch your eye rather than following a fixed route.