# Yang Fenglan
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{{short description|Chinese businesswoman (born 1949)}}
{{Expand Vietnamese|topic=bio}}{{Family name hatnote|[Yang](/source/Yang_(surname))|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](/source/Beijing), China
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| alma_mater = [Beijing Foreign Studies University](/source/Beijing_Foreign_Studies_University)
| occupation = Restaurateur, translator
| years_active =
| organization =
| agent =
| known_for = Smuggling ivory
| notable_works =
| television =
| party =
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| children =
| parents =
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| 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".[{{cite news |title=Who is the 'Ivory Queen'? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36203798 |access-date=20 February 2019 |work=BBC}}][{{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}}][{{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 }}]
==Biography==
Yang was born in [Beijing](/source/Beijing), China in 1949. She graduated from the [Beijing Foreign Studies University](/source/Beijing_Foreign_Studies_University), where she majored in [Swahili](/source/Swahili_language). In 1975, she was assigned to [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania), where she worked as a translator in the construction of the [TAZARA Railway](/source/TAZARA_Railway), linking [Zambia](/source/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.[{{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}}]
In 1998, she returned to Tanzania and set up two businesses in [Dar es Salaam](/source/Dar_es_Salaam): Beijing Restaurant and Beijing Great Wall Investment. The restaurant has been successful.[{{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}}] Most of the elephant tusks were smuggled and sold to Asia.[{{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}}][{{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}}][{{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}}][{{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}}] Her properties were ordered to be confiscated.[{{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}}]
== 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.