site of xanadu
states: [china]
category: cultural
year: 2012
location: Zhenglan Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia
region: Asia and the Pacific
latitude/longitude: 42.3580000000, 116.1851277778
last visited: 2025
unesco id: 1389
world heritage site: 1389
The Site of Xanadu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Inner Mongolia, China, encompasses the ruins of Kublai Khan’s legendary summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty, designed in 1256 by Chinese advisor Liu Bingzhong. Blending Mongolian nomadic and Han Chinese cultures, it features remnants of palaces, temples, tombs, and waterworks, reflecting its historical role in cultural fusion and the spread of Tibetan Buddhism. Immortalized by Marco Polo’s accounts and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem "Kubla Khan," Xanadu remains a symbol of opulence and cultural exchange, despite being largely destroyed in 1369.
