{{short description|Chinese businesswoman (born 1949)}} {{Expand Vietnamese|topic=bio}}{{Family name hatnote|Yang|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox person | image = Yang Fenglan.jpg | caption = Yang Fenglan | name = Yang Fenglan | native_name = 杨凤兰 | native_name_lang = zh | birth_name = | other_names = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1949}} | birth_place = Beijing, China | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|}} --> | death_place = | death_cause = | alma_mater = Beijing Foreign Studies University | occupation = Restaurateur, translator | years_active = | organization = | agent = | known_for = Smuggling ivory | notable_works = | television = | party = | movement = | spouse = <!-- {{marriage||}} --> | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = <!-- {{Awards|award= |year= |title= }} --> | signature = | module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes | s = {{linktext|杨|凤|兰}} | t = {{linktext|楊|鳳|蘭}} | p = Yáng Fènglán | w = Yang Feng-lan }} }} '''Yang Fenglan''' ({{zh|s=杨凤兰}}; born 1949) is a Chinese businesswoman who has been convicted of smuggling ivory. She was formerly based in Tanzania and is nicknamed by the media as the "Ivory Queen".<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Who is the 'Ivory Queen'? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36203798 |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Ailin Tang |title=China's 'Ivory Queen' in court for smuggling more than 700 tusks |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/19/chinas-ivory-queen-in-court-for-smuggling-more-than-700-tusks/ |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=telegraph |date=19 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/business/2016/06/downfall-yang-fenglan-ivory-queen |title=The downfall of Yang Fenglan, the "Ivory Queen" |work=newstatesman.com |date=8 June 2016 }}</ref>
==Biography== Yang was born in Beijing, China in 1949. She graduated from the Beijing Foreign Studies University, where she majored in Swahili. In 1975, she was assigned to Tanzania, where she worked as a translator in the construction of the TAZARA Railway, linking Zambia's landlocked copper belt with Tanzania's coast, at the time China's most significant African investment. After the project, she returned to China.<ref name="fish">{{cite news|url=http://news.sohu.com/20151009/n422800243.shtml |script-title=zh:中国女商人被控非洲最大规模象牙犯罪 |work=Sohu |date=2015-10-09 |language=zh}}</ref>
In 1998, she returned to Tanzania and set up two businesses in Dar es Salaam: Beijing Restaurant and Beijing Great Wall Investment. The restaurant has been successful.<ref name=":0" /> She also served as vice-chairwoman and secretary-general of the China-Africa Business Council of Tanzania.<ref name="fish"/>
Yang started smuggling ivory in 2006. Until her arrest in October 2015, she smuggled up to {{convert|1900|kg}} of ivory, worth about 5.4 billion Tanzanian shillings (US$2.7 million), making her one of the largest ivory smugglers in Africa.<ref name="fish"/><ref>{{cite news |author1=Zhang Yi |title='Queen of Ivory' faces charge in Tanzania |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-10/10/content_22147299.htm |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=Chinadaily |date=10 October 2015}}</ref> Most of the elephant tusks were smuggled and sold to Asia.<ref name=":1" />
Yang was arrested in October 2015. In February 2019, she and two Tanzanian men, Salivius Matembo and Manase Philemon, were each sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for "leading an organised criminal gang" by the Tanzanian court.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=Chinese 'Ivory Queen' Yang Fenglan jailed in Tanzania |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47294715 |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=MERRIT KENNEDY |title=Chinese 'Ivory Queen' Sentenced To 15 Years In Jail In Tanzania |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/19/696038515/chinese-ivory-queen-sentenced-to-15-years-in-jail-in-tanzania |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=npr |date=19 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.ifeng.com/c/7kQurBNzjjX |script-title=zh:外媒：“象牙女王”杨凤兰因走私在坦桑尼亚被判15年 |work=ifeng |date=2019-02-20 |language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese 'Ivory Queen' Yang Fenglan jailed in Tanzania |url=https://clubofmozambique.com/news/chinese-ivory-queen-yang-fenglan-jailed-in-tanzania/ |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=Clubofmozambique |date=19 February 2019}}</ref> Her properties were ordered to be confiscated.<ref name=":2" /> She has appealed her sentence. In reaction to her conviction, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a public statement supporting the court decision and condemning illegal activities of Chinese nationals abroad.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2186997/beijing-backs-jail-term-chinese-ivory-queen-yang-fenglan-tanzania|title=Beijing backs jail term for Chinese 'Ivory Queen' in Tanzania|date=2019-02-20|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref>
== Personal life == Yang has a daughter named Fei ({{lang|zh|非}}), which is short for "Feizhou" ({{lang|zh|非洲}}), the Chinese word for Africa.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Fenglan}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Beijing Foreign Studies University alumni Category:Businesspeople from Beijing Category:Chinese expatriates in Tanzania Category:Chinese restaurateurs Category:Chinese smugglers Category:20th-century Chinese translators Category:21st-century Chinese businesswomen Category:Restaurant founders Category:Wildlife smuggling Category:Women restaurateurs Category:Poachers