Geographic coordinates: E107°41′-110°31′   N35°21′-37°31′

Population:   2.15 m (2006)

Area:  14,297 sq mi

Average altitude: 3281 ft

Average temperature: 49 ℉

Annual rainfall:  20 in

IDD: 86 – 0911

Yanan is located in the north of Central China’s Shaanxi Province, about 220 miles from the capital city Xian. It is on the middle reaches of the famous Yellow River, considered as the birthplace of Chinese civilization. As a legend goes, Chinese ancestor the Yellow Emperor had even lived here. It is renowned for “Three Yellows and one Holy Land”, defined as the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum, Hukou Waterfalls on the Yellow River, the Loess Plateau (which is yellow) and the Holy Land of the Chinese Communist Revolution Movement.

Yanan is one of the 24 famous historic cities of China. Besides the Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum, there are over 800 historical and cultural relics, including ancient towers built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the stone carving clusters and temples of the Song Dynasty (960-1234). Yanan also has abundant natural resources: the most famous Hukou Waterfalls on the Yellow River and the largest wild peony habitat in China, Wanhua Mountain.  

Yanan is the endpoint of the Long March (a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army). Yanan is regarded as the Holy Land of the Chinese Communist Revolution Movement for it being the center of the movement from 1937 to 1948. The city has as many as 140 revolutionary sites, including Wangjiaping Revolution Site, Yangjialing Site (Site of the Former Offices of the CCP Central Committee), Jujube Garden (site of the CCP Secretariat), Baota Hill (Pagoda Hill) and Nanniwan Revolution site.

As a northern city of Shaanxi province, Yanan is on the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It is next to the Shanxi Province in the east and Gansu Province in the west with the meridian line as the boundary. Yanan is in the hinterland of the Loess Plateau with the altitude of 2600-5900 feet.

Yanan is a historic city as well. During the ancient Xia period, it was a place of Yong zhou (zhou was an administrative division in former times) it belonged to the successive ancient countries like Baidi, Jin, Wei, Qin and later the Shang jun state on Qin.

Yanan began to work as a prefecture in the Sui Dynasty (581- 618) and then was called Yan Zhou or Yanan Fu. (Fu is the seat of government during the Tang and the Song Dynasty). As a place where the Han people communicated well with the northern minorities, Yanan had already been the center of politics, military, economy and culture of the northern Shaanxi area.

It was the site of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China during Oct, 1935 to Mar, 1947. It was the military headquarters where Mao Zedong led the Chinese people to success in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Liberation Revolution of China. What’s more, the Yanan Spirit which advocated the spirit of liberation, hard working and living on yourself during hard times came into being and affects much on China’s future.