Ya'an

Ya'an
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Chinese transcription(s)
- Characters	雅安
- Pinyin	Yǎ'ān
A bridge with ancient Chinese architectural features, town centre of Ya'an
Location of Ya'an City jurisdiction (yellow) within Sichuan
Coordinates: 29°59′N 103°00′E / 29.983°N 103°E / 29.983; 103
Country	China
Province	Sichuan
Area
- Total	15,300 km2 (5,907.4 sq mi)
Population
- Total	1,530,000
- Density	100/km2 (259/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	625000
Area code(s)	0835
Website	http://www.yaan.gov.cn/

Ya'an (Chinese: 雅安; pinyin: Yǎ'ān; Wade-Giles: Ya-an) is a prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China.

Geography

It has an area of 15300 square kilometers and a population of 1,530,000.^[1]

Zhouhe and Tiaquan are among the county-level cities administered by Ya'an. Ya'an borders Tibetan ethnic areas to the west.

Previously known as Yazhou-fu, the city is first mentioned during the Zhou Dynasty (1122-255 BCE). It served as a county seat during the Qin and Han Dynasties, but was subsequently taken by nomadic tribes. After being reintegrated into the Chinese Empire in the late 5th century, it was made the seat of the Ya Prefecture in 604. The modern Ya'an county was established in 1912. The first giant panda was found in Ya'an; Ya'an is also the origin of Artificial planting tea of the world.

"The busy little town [of Yaan] was full of life, for its market is the only trading centre for the Chinese and Tibetans from Kangting. Accompanied by two coolies, I crossed the long suspension bridge which oscillates alarmingly over the Ya Ho. I got separated from my coolies in the dense crowd which swarmed along the main street, but in the end found them, and my luggage, at the Catholic mission, where two venerable fathers welcomed me with the flowery courtesy of mandarins...

Yaan is the main market for a special kind of tea which is grown in this part of the country and exported in very large quantities to Tibet via Kangting and over the caravan routes through Batang (Paan) and Teko. Although the Chinese regard it as an inferior product, it is greatly esteemed by the Tibetans for its powerful flavor, which harmonizes particularly well with that of yak butter and salt which Tibetans often mix with their tea. Brick tea comprises not only what we call tea leaves, but also the coarser leaves and some of the twigs of the shrub, as well as the leaves and fruit of other plants and trees (the alder, for instance). This amalgam is steamed, weighed, and compressed into hard bricks, which are packed up in coarse matting in subunits of four. These rectangular parcels weigh between twenty-two and twenty-six pounds—the quality of the tea makes a slight difference to the weight—and are carried to Kangting by coolies. A long string of them, moving slowly under their monstrous burdens of tea, was a familiar sight along the road I followed."^[2]

Subdivisions

• Yucheng District (雨城区)
• Mingshan County (名山县)
• Yingjing County (荥经县)
• Hanyuan County (汉源县)
• Shimian County (石棉县)
• Tianquan County (天全县)
• Lushan County (芦山县)
• Baoxing County (宝兴县)

Transport

• China National Highway 318

Notes

References

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., 2005

External links

• Official website of Ya'an Government

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