Looks similar to A. firma.

Needle orientation distinct from A. firma...also firma needles "stiff as a wire brush"

Abies firma

Oops, I thought you were replying to me...sorry.

I can't remember if my Shensi fir had the recurving needles, but, yes, it was softer feeling that juvenile A. firma. (My Shensi fir died after too many practice attempts to graft onto it! It was probably too big to begin with, but I sacrificed it because I already have 2 eastablished firma and 1 almost fully established A. recurvata, and it otherwise wasn't distinctive from either one. My current A. recurvata, as you can see in my other post, looks a lot like your Shensi fir.)

I
would suggest that this 2 first pics could be Abies ernestii Rehder, (originally
called Abies beissneriana
Rehd. & Wils.)
sometimes also called A. chensiensis var. ernestii.

Yes as I said I don't remember my Abies chensiensis quite having such recurved needles. This picture looks more like my Abies ernestii or A. recurvata...can't remember which name Forestfarm was using to sell it.

Hi
David! Certainly not A. recurvata, Abies ernestii
also shows such recurved leaves, attached a photo
of a true young Abies ernestii from the type locality,
he looks identical to yours plant.

So what is the difference then between Abies recurvata and Abies ernestii?

Odd, in the picture of a tree at Cornell, does it seem to anyone else that the needles are not even recurving?! http://conifersociety.org/conifers/conifer/abies/recurvata/ernestii/

specifically, this picture: conifersociety.org/wp-content/uploads/100_6621-700x525.jpg

So what is the difference then between Abies recurvata and Abies ernestii?

Not a lot; slightly longer needles. Usually treated as Abies recurvata var. ernestii (Rehder) C.T.Kuan now.

Resin

Abies ernestii is a rather ambiguous
and elusive species
with inconstant characters. Indeed Abies ernestii
varies considerably; the cones can be green, yellow or purple. The apex of
fertile leaves on cones branches vary from
notched to sharp.
The lengths of the leaves in some young Abies
ernestii (in situ in some places)
can rival with those of Abies salouenensis. Geographically
also Abies ernestii is intermediate to the northern A. recurvata and the southern
Abies minensis. These
two related species appear to interfere in the Abies ernestii
area. All my observations
lead me to believe that this
so-called Abies ernestii
actually represents intermediate transition populations between
Abies recurvata and Abies salouenensis.