The Yanbian is a

taurine Taurine (), or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an organic compound that is widely distributed in animal tissues. It is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine, and accounts for up to 0.1% of total human body weight. I ...

breed of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

that originated in northeast China. They belong to the "yellow" class of Chinese cattle, and are closely related to the Korean

Hanwoo The Hanwoo ( ko, 한우), also Hanu or Korean Native, is a breed of small cattle native to Korea. It was formerly used as a draught animal, but this use has almost disappeared. It is now raised mainly for meat. It is one of four indigenous Korea ...

breed, having diverged from a common ancestor in the late 19th/early 20th century. Unlike the majority of Chinese cattle breeds, Yanbian have had no ancestral breeding with

indicine The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty h ...

cattle. They are mainly distributed in northeastern China, in the

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

and Liaoning Provinces. In 2010, it was estimated there were 210,000 individuals. Females are 122 cm tall at the withers, 141 cm in length and weigh 365 kg on average; males are 131 cm tall at the withers, 152 cm in length and weigh 465 kg on average. Their coat colour is predominantly yellow, and both males and females are horned. They are primarily used as draught animals, particularly in rice production. They are also increasingly being raised for

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

, with a dressing percentage of 40-48%. However, they have a slow growth rate, so production potential is limited. Yanbians were crossed with Limousins in 1987 to produce the Yan Yellow breed, which has improved beef production qualities.

References

Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in China {{China-stub