The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake occurred in Aba Prefecture.
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culture
阿坝州 (full name 阿坝藏族羌族自治州) is a Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture covering most of northwest Sichuan. It contains 九寨沟 and 黄龙 (both UNESCO sites), 若尔盖草原 grassland, and 四姑娘山 — one of China's premier alpine climbing destinations. The 2008 汶川大地震 was centered in 阿坝州's 汶川县. 'Aba' is the Chinese transliteration of the Tibetan name Ngawa.
mistakes
The 坝 character means 'dam' in common use but here it's purely transliteration — do not read 'Aba' as 'A-dam.' The short form 阿坝 is acceptable, but the full prefecture-level term is 阿坝州.
