🧿 Shangdu

Shangdu, known in the West as Xanadu, was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty. 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.