Ya'an 雅安Yǎ’ān

About Ya'an

Ya'an sits on the rainy western rim of the Sichuan Basin, where the plain gives way to the mountains on the road to Tibet, and for centuries its brick tea was carried west into Tibet. Tea terraces climb Mount Mengding, where tea growing is said to have begun, and Bifengxia Gorge & Panda Base pairs waterfalls with pandas. In Baoxing, Dengchigou Church & Panda Discovery Site marks where the missionary Armand David obtained, in 1869, the first giant panda known to Western science.

What to eat in Ya'an

• Ya fish (雅鱼)
• Mengding Ganlu tea (蒙顶甘露)
• Ya'an Tibetan tea (藏茶)

Featured places in Ya'an

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  Mount Mengding 蒙顶山

  Misty tea terraces and an imperial tea garden where tea growing is said to have begun

  Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Oct · Time needed: Half a day to 1 day · 4A scenic area

Listed sites in Ya'an

25 sites in Ya'an are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Bifengxia Gorge & Panda Base 碧峰峡 5A scenic area · on the map
  A wooded valley in the hills north of Ya'an that pairs a gorge walk with the Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
• Anshunchang Red Army Crossing Site 安顺场 4A scenic area
  A ferry crossing on the Dadu River where, in May 1935, a small Red Army vanguard crossed by boat under fire during the Long March, opening the way for the advance on Luding Bridge.
• Dengchigou Church & Panda Discovery Site 邓池沟 4A scenic area
  The valley where the French missionary-naturalist Armand David was based in 1869, when he obtained a giant panda; the specimen he sent to the natural history museum in Paris was the first scientific specimen of the animal.
• Feixianguan Pass 飞仙关 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
  A riverside pass in the mountains west of Ya'an that was a gateway on the Tea Horse Road, the old trade route that carried tea from Sichuan to Tibet.
• Huahai Guoxiang Orchards, Hanyuan 花海果乡 4A scenic area · on the map
  An orchard district around Jiuxiang in Hanyuan County, where pear, peach, cherry and apricot trees flower each spring.
• Jinfeng Mountain & Jinfeng Temple 金凤山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A wooded hill park on the edge of Ya'an city whose slopes hold Jinfeng Temple, a Buddhist temple protected as a Sichuan provincial heritage site.
• Labahe & Mount Erlang 二郎山·喇叭河 4A scenic area
  A forested river valley on the eastern side of Mount Erlang in Tianquan county, with trails and a cable car into the higher forest; the Labahe nature reserve here is part of the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries World Heritage Site.
• Lingguan Stone City, Baoxing 灵关石城 4A scenic area · on the map
  A tourism district around Lingguan town in Baoxing County built on the local white-marble industry.
• Longcanggou Forest Park 龙苍沟 4A scenic area · on the map
  A national forest park in Yingjing county, about 196 km from Chengdu, valued for the diversity of its forest plants and its streams and waterfalls.
• Longmen Ancient Town & Qinglong Temple 龙门古镇 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
  Longmen, in a valley north-east of Lushan county town, was the epicentre of the magnitude 6.6 earthquake of 20 April 2013, and the rebuilt township is now run as a scenic area, Longmen Ancient Town.
• Moon Lake, Mingshan 月亮湖 4A scenic area · on the map
  A small lake and tea-garden leisure area at Jiefang village, Baizhang town, on Mingshan's tea-garden greenway.
• Panda Ancient Town, Baoxing 熊猫古城 4A scenic area · on the map
  A quarter of Muping, Baoxing's county town, developed from 2012 in traditional western Sichuan style and themed on the giant panda, which was first described to Western science from Baoxing in 1869.
• Pingxiang Tower & Hanjiang Old Town 汉姜古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
  A rebuilt old quarter of Lushan county town, laid out after the 2013 Lushan earthquake and themed on Jiang Wei, the Three Kingdoms general who held the title Marquis of Pingxiang.
• Qiaoqi Tibetan Village & Shenmulei 硗碛藏寨 4A scenic area · on the map
  Qiaoqi, Baoxing county's only ethnic township, lies in a high valley above 2,000 metres at the head of the eastern branch of the Qingyi River, and most of its people are Tibetan.
• Shangli Ancient Town 上里古镇 4A scenic area
  A historic market town in the hills north of Ya'an, with lanes of old timber-framed houses beside its streams, now run as a tourist village.
• Wanggangping 王岗坪 4A scenic area · on the map
  A mountain area east of the Dadu River in Shimian county, climbed by a cable car about 3.5 km long.
• Yandao Ancient City, Yingjing 严道古城 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
  The site of Yandao, a county seat founded by the Qin state in 312 BC and later a staging post on the Southern Silk Road, in Gucheng village on the western edge of Yingjing town.
• Yunfeng Mountain & Yunfeng Temple 云峰山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested mountainside about 4 km from Yingjing county town, spanning roughly 1,000 to 2,600 metres and centred on Yunfeng Temple, also known as Taihu Temple.
• Zhougong Mountain 周公山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested outlier of the Qionglai range just south of Ya'an city, rising to about 1,743 metres and encircled by the Zhougong and Qingyi rivers.
• Fan Min Que 樊敏阙 National heritage site
  A stone pillar-gate (que) from the tomb of Fan Min, dated to 205 AD in the Eastern Han dynasty, standing about 3 km south of Lushan county town with his memorial stele and other carvings.
• Former Mingde Middle School (Xikang Museum) 明德中学旧址 National heritage site
  A three-storey brick and stone building in a mix of Chinese and Western Republican-era styles on Zhangjiashan hill in Ya'an, built for the Mingde junior middle school, a mission school funded by the American Baptists and founded by the missionary Frederick N. Smith; the facade still bears the school's name.
• Gao Yi Que 高颐阙 National heritage site
  A pair of carved stone pillar-gates (que) built in the Jian'an era (196–220) of the Eastern Han dynasty at the tomb of Gao Yi, a governor of Yizhou.
• Jiuxiang Stone Archway 九襄石牌坊 National heritage site · on the map
  A Qing-dynasty stone memorial archway (paifang) in Jiuxiang town, Hanyuan county, protected as a national heritage site since 2013.
• Kaishan Temple, Yingjing 开善寺 National heritage site
  A Buddhist temple in Yingjing county town, now home to the county museum, whose main hall, built in the Chenghua reign of the Ming in the late 15th century, is one of the few Ming timber buildings left in Sichuan.
• Mingshan Confucian Temple 名山文庙 National heritage site · on the map
  A Qing-dynasty Confucian temple on top of Yuehua Hill in the town of Mingshan, moved to this site in 1841 and protected as a national heritage site since 2013.

On the map

Open Ya'an on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)