Madongchuan
Madongchuan is a town in Baota District, Yan’an, Shaanxi, China. It covers about 252.7 square kilometers and had 6,544 residents in 2010. The town is about 65 kilometers from Baota’s urban center.
Two notable features are ancient manmade grottoes from the Song dynasty, including the Shiyaowan Grotto with Buddha statues and old inscriptions.
Historical events include clashes between the Red Army and Nationalist forces in Jinpenwan in 1935, which the Red Army won. In 1947, Communist forces again clashed with the Nationalists in Jinpenwan and captured the village; later that year, Nationalist aircraft bombed the area. In 1950, an illness killed many people in Jinpenwan and nearby areas.
Madongchuan became a people's commune in 1972 and was changed to a township in 1984. It is bordered by Lin to the east, Nanniwan and Chuankou to the west, Zhengzhuang in Yanchang County to the north, and Niuwu in Fu County to the south. The Fenchuan River runs through the town, and its canal irrigates land to form the Jinpenwan Reservoir.
Forests cover a large part of the area; about 62% was forested in 1994. The town administers 10 administrative villages and 38 natural villages, with the government located in Madongchuan Village.
Population has fallen since 2000: 10,416 people in 2000, 6,544 in 2010. The hukou population was 11,142 in 2018. Major crops are maize, tobacco, and vegetables. A small hydropower plant, the Dongwan Small Hydropower Plant, built in 1958, produces about 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. The S303 highway passes through Madongchuan.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:33 (CET).