The town of YAN'AN, China, set deep in the bleakly attractive dry loess hills of northern Shaanxi, has very little in common with the other cities of this province. Geographically and temperamentally it belongs with the high industrial cities of Shanxi rather than the ancient capitals of the Yellow River plain; however, the only easy way to get here is on the train or bus from Xi'an, 250km to the south. The town is a quiet backwater, and walking its dour streets it's hard to imagine that, as the headquarters of the Communist Party in the 1930s and early 1940s, this was once one of China's most popular tourist spots, a major revolutionary pilgrimage site second only to Mao's birthplace at Shaoshan. In the changed political climate, with enthusiasm for the Party waning (and no longer compulsory), it's now hardly different from any other northern town, rarely visited except by groups of PLA soldiers and the odd ideologue.

 

There's nothing spectacular about the sights, unless the fact that Mao and Co. were once here is enough to inspire awe by itself, but some insight into China's modern history is given not just by the Revolutionary Museum , but by the town centre, built during the tourist boom, an example of utilitarian 1950s and 1960s architecture , and by the slopes around, which are full of traditional Shaanxi cave houses . There is something perversely attractive in the town's grimness, which, together with the beauty of the surrounding countryside, makes it worth a day trip from Xi'an.