Yánchuān

Yanchuan lies northeast of Yan'an among the ravines of the Loess Plateau. Its county name comes from the Tuyan River, a stream that winds through the hills toward the Yellow River. The county was established under the Sui, though its administration changed repeatedly under later dynasties. Its walled seat occupied a site backed by hills and facing a ravine; the Ming rebuilt the old town in the fifteenth century. Yanchuan remained a county of Yan'an Prefecture through the Ming and Qing.