Shangdu
Shangdu (Chinese: 上都; lit. 'Upper Capital'; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂɑ̂ŋ tú]; Mongolian: ᠱᠠᠩᠳᠤ Шанду, Šandu), also known as Xanadu (/ˈzænəduː/ ZAN-ə-doo), was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty of China before Kublai moved his throne to the former Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū (Chinese: 中都; lit. 'Middle Capital') which was renamed Khanbaliq (present-day Beijing). Shangdu is located in the present-day Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia. In June 2012, it was made a World Heritage Site for its historical importance and for the unique blending of Mongolian and Chinese culture.
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Ruins of Shangdu | |
| Location | Shangdu Town, Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia, China |
| Criteria | Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 1349 |
| Inscription | 2020 (44th Session) |
| Area | 25,131.27 ha |
| Buffer zone | 150,721.96 ha |
| Coordinates | 42°21′35″N 116°10′45″E |
Location of Shangdu Shangdu (China) | |
| Shangdu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 上都 | ||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Shàngdū | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Upper Capital | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Venetian traveller Marco Polo described Shangdu to Europeans after visiting it in 1275. It was conquered in 1479 by the Ming dynasty army under the Hongwu Emperor. In 1797, historical accounts of the city inspired the famous poem Kubla Khan by the English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.