ABSTRACT
Location: Ringed by mountains, Yanan is a remote town on the Yan River, in the far northern part of central China's Shaanxi province.
Description: A small and isolated town, Yanan (also written as Yenan) became the Chinese Communist headquarters from 1936 to 1947. During this time, known later as the Yanan Period, the party gained much support; Mao Zedong developed there his particular brand of Marxism, commonly called Maoism. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) left Yanan in 1947 during the civil war with Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists, who promptly captured the city. Since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Yanan has been revered as the former CCP headquarters and is a popular pilgrimage destination for today's Chinese.
