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Shangdu (; lit. "Upper Capital"; ), known in the West as Xanadu, was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan. Located in what is now Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia, it was designed by Chinese architect Liu Bingzhong and served as a seasonal retreat blending Mongolian steppe traditions with Chinese urban planning. The site gained legendary status after it was visited by Marco Polo and later inspired the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
In 2012, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cultural and historical significance. A railway is under construction from Beijing to Zhenglan Banner and will open in 2026.
Located in the grasslands north of the Great Wall—about 350 km north of Beijing and 28 km northwest of present-day Duolun—Shangdu was designed with a triple structure: an outer city, an inner city, and a central imperial palace. The palace enclosure measured roughly 550 meters per side, occupying about 40% of the later Forbidden City in Beijing.Tomoko Masuya, \"Seasonal capitals with permanent buildings in the Mongol empire,\" in David Durand-Guédy (ed.), Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life, Brill, 2013, p. 239.
Shangdu served both as a summer retreat and as a political and ceremonial center, where Kublai Khan hosted foreign envoys and conducted court affairs. It embodied the synthesis of Mongol governance and Chinese administration, and it symbolized the cosmopolitan character of the Yuan dynasty.John Man, Kublai Khan: From Xanadu to Superpower, Bantam Books, 2006, pp. 104–119.
At its height, Shangdu had a population of over 100,000 and included gardens, hunting grounds, temples, and administrative quarters. Descriptions from Marco Polo and archaeological findings indicate the palace featured marble halls, gilded decoration, and elaborate wood and lacquer work.
In 1369, during the fall of the Yuan dynasty, Shangdu was sacked by Ming forces and largely destroyed. The court fled north and the city was abandoned. The site’s original name, Kaiping, was briefly restored, but the settlement never recovered.Atwood, 2004, p. 605.
In 1872, British diplomat Steven Bushell visited the ruins and noted surviving remnants of temples, marble blocks, and decorative tiles.S.W. Bushell, \"Notes on the old Mongol capital of Shangtu,\" Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 8 (1876), pp. 387–405. However, by the late 20th century, many of these materials had been scavenged by local residents of Dolon Nor for building use. Since 2002, the Chinese government has undertaken efforts to preserve and study the site, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012. UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Site of Xanadu
He also recounted a portable "cane palace," adorned with lacquered dragons and able to be dismantled for travel:
His 1625 edition expanded the detail, echoing Marco Polo's account:
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