Yan'an 延安

About Yan'an

The Revolutionary Memorial Museum provides the chronology, while Wangjiaping supplies the physical setting of offices and living quarters. Pagoda Hill then gives a different perspective over the city’s river valleys. These stops are connected by the city, not by one continuous historical compound, so allow for local transfers between them.

The terrain is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast, averaging about 1,200 metres in elevation, with the Bai Yu Mountains (白于山) in the north reaching 1,600 to 1,800 metres. Loess ridges, mounds and gullies dominate the northern part of the city, while a loess plateau and gullies dominate the south, and the Huanglong Mountains (黄龙山) and Laoshan (劳山), together called the Liangshan range, form the backbone of the local terrain.

Yan'an is a prefecture-level city in northern Shaanxi, on the Loess Plateau in the Yellow River's middle reaches, bordering Gansu to the west and Shanxi to the east. The Ziwu Ridge (子午岭) also crosses its territory, and its main rivers include the Beiluo (北洛河), Yan (延河) and Qingjian (清涧河) rivers. The city covers 37,031 square kilometres and had a resident population of about 2.27 million.

Yan'an is designated a National Historic and Cultural City (国家历史文化名城). Following the Red Army's arrival in 1935 at the end of the Long March, it also served as the capital of the Chinese Soviet Republic. Since 1999 the city has pursued a Grain for Green afforestation policy that raised forest coverage from under ten percent at the founding of the People's Republic to 46.35 percent by 2017, and in 2016 it was named a National Forest City (国家森林城市).

What to look for

• The Revolutionary Memorial Museum’s wartime objects and historical displays.
• Wangjiaping’s preserved revolutionary-era compound.
• The brick pagoda and city outlook on Pagoda Hill.

The surrounding area

A northern base for the revolutionary museum, Baota Mountain and separately located historic sites, with its own lamb and noodle traditions.

Location & getting there

Getting to Yan'an

Yan’an railway station is a rail arrival point for the city; continue to Wangjiaping Road for the memorial museum.

• Plan separate local transfers for the museum and Pagoda Hill rather than treating the two as adjoining sites.