Ya'an

History

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. It became the provincial capital of Xikang province in 1951, but has been a municipality under the administration of Sichuan province since 1955, when Xikang province was merged and became a part of Sichuan province.

The first giant panda was found in Baoxing County of Ya'an; Ya'an is also the origin of artificial planting tea of the world; Mengding Mountain in Mingshan County, has been keeping seven tea trees, which are believed to be the origins of tea, for more than 1,000 years.

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." |André Migot|Tibetan Marches (1955). Translated by Peter Fleming}}

Panda tea is also a local speciality.

On April 20, 2013, the city was hit by a major earthquake, causing numerous casualties and heavy damage to housing and infrastructure.

Geography

Ya'an is located at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin and on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, covering the transition between the Chengdu Plain and the Tibetan Plateau. Its latitude ranges from 28° 51′ 10″ — 30° 56′ 40″ N and its longitude from 101° 56′ 26″—103° 23′ 28″ E. Neighbouring prefectures are, starting from the northeast and moving counter-clockwise, Chengdu (NE), Meishan (E), Leshan (SE), Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (S), Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (W), and Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (N). With an area of 15300 sqkm and a population of 1,530,000, The city is encircled by mountains, and four rivers flow through it.

Its distance to Chengdu is 140 km.

Climate

Ya'an has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) and is largely mild and humid. The presence of the mountains to the northwest greatly affects the city's climate. In the short winters, they help shield the city from cold Siberian winds. January averages 6.3 °C, and while frost may occur, snow is rare. Summers are hot and humid, with highs often reaching 30 °C, yet extended heat waves are rare; the daily average in July and August is around 25 °C. Rainfall is common year-round, though in winter it tends to be light, and is particularly heavy in summer, when warm, humid southerly or southeasterly winds blow against the mountains, causing orographic lift to occur, enhancing rainfall. With nearly 1700 mm of rainfall occurring on 213 days per year, Ya'an is also known as the "Rain City". In addition, rain often falls at night, so fog is not a common occurrence.

| Jan record high C = 20.4 | Feb record high C = 23.9 | Mar record high C = 31.8 | Apr record high C = 34.6 | May record high C = 35.7 | Jun record high C = 36.5 | Jul record high C = 38.6 | Aug record high C = 37.9 | Sep record high C = 34.9 | Oct record high C = 31.2 | Nov record high C = 24.9 | Dec record high C = 19.8 | Jan record low C = −2.8 | Feb record low C = −1.6 | Mar record low C = −0.7 | Apr record low C = 3.2 | May record low C = 10.0 | Jun record low C = 14.3 | Jul record low C = 17.1 | Aug record low C = 16.6 | Sep record low C = 12.9 | Oct record low C = 4.8 | Nov record low C = 1.2 | Dec record low C = −3.9 all-time January high | script-title=zh:雅安 - 气象数据 -中国天气网 | access-date = 21 November 2022}}

Administrative subdivisions

Tourism and culture

Tourism forms an important parts of the economy of Ya'an. The city is home to the Bifengxia Panda Base. The first panda specimen known to the western world was from Ya'an discovered by the Lazarist missionary Armand David.

The city is also famous for Ya fish, which is used in local cuisine. Ya'an is also the production base of Tibetan brick tea.

Transport

• China National Highway 318
• G5 Beijing–Kunming Expressway
• G4218 Yaye Expressway
• G93 Chengyu Ring Expressway
• Sichuan–Tibet railway Chengdu-Ya'an section
• Ya'an railway station on the Sichuan–Tibet railway

Notes

References

• Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th ed., 2005
• Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2011). China's Ancient Tea Horse Road. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2

References

1. (2021-05-26). "". link. Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics
2. 四川省统计局、国家统计局四川调查总队. (2016). "《四川统计年鉴－2016》". [[China Statistics Press]].
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4gNk5HzIIKgC&pg=PA31 Chinese steles: pre-Buddhist and Buddhist use of a symbolic form], p. 209
4. [[André Migot. Migot, André]] (1955). ''Tibetan Marches''. Translated by Peter Fleming. E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., U.S.A., pp. 59-60.
5. {{in lang. zh [http://www.yaan.gov.cn/yazc/yazcxwzx.nsf/zjyapage1?OpenPage Profile of Ya'an] {{Webarchive. link. (2007-11-17 , official website of Ya'an Government, visited on May 12, 2008.)
6. Ng, Teddy. (2013-04-22). "Yaan, city of tea and pandas and historic gateway to Tibet and beyond". [[South China Morning Post]].
7. link. Weather China
8. link. [[China Meteorological Administration]]
9. "Sina Visitor System". weatherman_信欣 on [[Weibo]].
10. "雅安市第七次全国人口普查公报 （第二号） - 雅安市人民政府".
11. (2020-02-25). "Frontier Computing: Theory, Technologies and Applications (FC 2019)". Springer Nature.
12. "Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base {{!}} Ya'an, China Attractions".
13. 郭凯. "Panda lovers find paradise on expressway to Ya'an".
14. (August 2025). ["The unique fish in Ya'an, Sichuan is known as the three must-sees in Ya'an: Yayu"](https://inf.news/en/food/c3b3bb87a4db116a0dc1d9b7cd30d12e.html}}{{Dead link).
15. (2021). "The 2020 International Conference on Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics for IoT Security and Privacy: SPIoT-2020, Volume 1". Springer Nature.