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Yan’an is among the first batch of well known historical and cultural cities designated by the State Council. The city was first formed during the Xia Dynasty, about 3600 years ago. It was the political, military, economic and cultural center of Northern Shaanxi where the Han nationality and the nomadic minorities intermingled with one another. From October 1935 to March 1947, Yan’an was a city where Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of CPC lived, and led the CPC’s armed struggle against Japanese invaders, and the early stage of the Liberation War.
Yan’an is located in the ravine areas of the Loess plateau, with average altitude of 1000 meters, average annual non-frost period of 180 days, average annual temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius, and mean annual precipitation of 500 millimeters.
The area around the city is rich in mineral resources. There are ten proven deposits underground, of which the deposit of oil is 7.5 hundred million tons, coal is 71 hundred million tons, natural gas is 3.3 billion cubic meters, red porcelain clay is 50 million tons. In recent years, mineral resource exploration has given a great impetus to the development of local economy. Local agriculture, forestry and communication have been greatly improved. Per capital income of the city has been the highest in the province, and people’s living standard has been greatly improved. The local government is carrying out a landscaping and forestation project, which has increased the forestry coverage and improved the natural environment.
The city is uniquely characterized in the resources of natural scenery and historical and humanist tourism. Close to the city are the famous Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum and the Huko Waterfall of the Yellow River. There are 848 historical relic sites, including carved stone caves, rock-cut temples, and pagodas. Combined with the unique local culture and customs, tourism of Loess culture and customs is prosperous. In the city there are over 350 historical revolutionary sites of the Communist Party of China, with a collection of over 30 thousand historical relics, which has been an important historical resource for tourism.
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