- Xanadu
Infobox Settlement
official_name = Xanadu
other_name = Zanadu, Shangdu, or Shang-tu
native_name = zh-cp|c=上都|p=Shàngdū
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latd=42 |latm=21 |lats=35 |latNS=N
longd=116 |longm=10 |longs=47 |longEW=E
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footnotes = coord|42|21|35|N|116|10|45|E|type:landmark|display=title Xanadu, also Zanadu, Shangdu, or Shang-tu (zh-cp|c=上都|p=Shàngdū) was thesummer capital ofKublai Khan 'sYuan Dynasty inChina , a division of theMongol Empire (which covered much ofAsia and also encroached uponeastern Europe ). The city was located in what is now calledInner Mongolia , convert|275|km|mi north ofBeijing , about convert|28|km|mi northwest of the modern town ofDuolun . The layout of the capital is roughly square shaped with sides of about 2200m, it consists of an "Outer City", and an "Inner City" in the southeast of the capital which has also roughly a square layout with sides about 1400m, and the palace, where Kublai Khan stayed in summer. The palace has sides of roughly 550m, 40% the size of theForbidden City in Beijing. The most visible modern-day remnants are the earthen walls though there is also a ground-level, circular brick platform in the centre of the inner enclosure. Xanadu was visited by Venetian explorerMarco Polo in 1275; it became fabled as a metaphor for opulence, most famously in the English RomanticSamuel Taylor Coleridge 's poem "Kubla Khan ".External links
* [http://www.doncroner.com/2005/05/china-inner-mongolia-shangdu.html Mr. Don Croner's report on present-day condition of Shangdu, nice photos, and travel directions.]
* [http://www.maplandia.com/china/nei-mongol-zizhiqu/shangdu/ Shangdu Google Satellite Map] ( [http://www.maplandia.com/ maplandia] )
* [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/14/content_271814.htm Shangdu city uncovered] ( [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ chinadaily.com] )
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/142/ Historical Remains at Yuan Shangdu ] ( [http://whc.unesco.org UNESCO World Heritage] )
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