Park of China
Overview
| Name | Yan'an 延安 |
| Web address | https://parkofchina.com/en/yanan.html |
| Designation | National Famous Historical and Cultural City (first batch, 1982) |
| Province | Shaanxi |
| Location | Northern Shaanxi |
| Latitude, longitude | 36.59, 109.49 Google Maps |
| Highlights | Old city on the Loess Plateau, Pagoda Hill, grottoes |
| Top sights | Pagoda Hill, Ten Thousand Buddha Cave on Qingliang Hill |
| Nearby cities | Xi’an, Taiyuan, Zhengzhou |
| Nearby sites | Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River, Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, Fencheng |
| Themes | Ancient City, Tower, Grotto |
About
Yan’an, on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi with the Yan River running through it, was known in the past as Fushi and Yanzhou, and is one of the first National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities. It has always been on the main road from the Guanzhong plain to the lands beyond the Great Wall; under the Northern Song it was on the front line against the Western Xia, and Fan Zhongyan once directed the frontier defence here.
On Pagoda Hill by the Yan River south-east of the city stands a brick pagoda first built in the Tang and rebuilt in the Ming, the symbol of Yan’an; across the river Qingliang Hill has the Ten Thousand Buddha Cave carved in the Song. From 1937 to 1947 the Central Committee of the Communist Party was based in Yan’an, and its former sites at Yangjialing, Zaoyuan and elsewhere in and around the city survive.
Huangling County in the south of Yan’an has the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor; to the east, in Yichuan County, is the Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River.
Travel tips
Getting there: Yan’an Nanniwan Airport is south of the city; trains run to Xi’an in two or three hours.
Sightseeing: Pagoda Hill and Qingliang Hill are in the city; the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor and Hukou Waterfall can be combined with Yan’an on one route.
Stamps
Stamp 5 of 2012-14 “Red Footprints”, a set of six issued in 2012, shows Yan’an.
Nearby
| World Heritage | Bin County Cave Temple 216km, Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and the Terracotta Army 245km, Ancient City of Pingyao 251km, Zhenguo Temple 260km |
| National parks | Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River 98km, Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor 113km, Qikou Ancient Town 164km, Qiachuan, Heyang 176km |
| AAAAA attractions | Yellow River Qiankun Bay Scenic Area 83km, Yunqiushan Scenic Area 167km, Hongtong Great Locust Tree Ancestral Roots Park 198km |
| AAAA attractions | Nanniwan 12km, Laoshan National Forest Park 27km, Ganquan Grand Canyon 41km |
| Historical sites | Former Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region High Court <1km, Yan'an Revolutionary Sites <1km, Qingliang Mountain Wanfo Cave Grottoes and Glazed Pagoda 2km, Former Shaan-Gan-Ning and Jin-Sui Joint Defense Army Headquarters in Yan'an 3km |
| National geoparks | Yanchuan Yellow River Meanders National Geopark 82km, Yellow River Hukou Waterfall (Shanxi) National Geopark 98km |
| Nature reserves | Ziwuling National Nature Reserve 129km |