Shulan City, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jilin City, is located in the central and northern part of Jilin Province, adjacent to Jilin City in the south, Harbin City of Heilongjiang Province in the north, facing Changchun City of Jilin Province across the Songhua River in the west, and bordering Jiahe City, Jiutai City, Yushu City of Jilin Province and Wuchang City of Heilongjiang Province respectively. It covers an area of 4560 square kilometers and has jurisdiction over 5 subdistricts, 10 towns, 5 townships and 1 provincial economic development zone. By the end of 2020, the total registered population of Shulan is 593,000, of which 160,000 are urban.

Shulan City is located in the center of Northeast Asia economic circle, within the one-hour economic circle of Jilin, Changchun and Harbin. The city has 4 national AA scenic spots, 1 provincial forest park, 3 national water conservancy scenic spots, 5 rafting spots, 3 large religious and cultural tourism places, 2 ski resorts, 8 travel agency business department.
In 2020, Shulan's GDP reached 12.77 billion yuan, an increase of 1.6 percent over 2019.