[3] Zaoyuan hosted the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party from October 1943 to March 1947.

[4] In 1972, the Zaoyuan People's Commune (simplified Chinese: 枣园公社; traditional Chinese: 棗園公社; pinyin: Zǎoyuán Gōngshè) was established,[4] as part of the nationwide campaign of establishing people's communes.

When people's communes were abolished in 1984, Zaoyuan was re-designated as a township.

[4] In June 2015, the Shaanxi Ministry of Civil Affairs upgraded Zaoyuan from a town to a subdistrict.

[5] Zaoyuan Subdistrict is located 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) to the west of the city center of Yan'an.