Shangdu (Xanadu)

Shangdu is located on the Jinlianchuan Grasslands of Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It was built in 1259 and originally named Kaiping City, which was changed to Shangdu in 1263. As the first capital of the Yuan Dynasty, Shangdu was a prominent city that greatly boosted China's interactions with the rest of the world and featured prominently in many major historical events and civilizational milestones that shaped and changed the evolution of global civilizations. In the 13th century, Marco Polo met Kublai Khan in Shangdu. His book Travels of Marco Polo captured the hustle and bustle of the city, which he Romanized as "Xanadu." The wide dissemination of his writings over the hundreds of years since made "Xanadu" a ubiquitous word in Western countries.

A physical testimonial of the legendary history of the Yuan Dynasty, Shangdu remains mostly intact despite all the vicissitudes it endured, and it is considered the best-preserved grassland capital city in the world. In 2012, the Site of Xanadu was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a unique example of cultural fusion that demonstrates the coexistence and mutual assimilation of the nomadic people and the Han Chinese culture, among others.

上都

上都，位于內(nèi)蒙古自治區(qū)錫林郭勒盟金蓮川草原，始建于1259年，并于1263年由開平城改名上都。元上都作為元朝建立的第一個都城，在當(dāng)時世界上具有舉足輕重的地位， 它大大地加強(qiáng)了中國與世界的聯(lián)系，與影響和改變世界文明進(jìn)程的許多重大歷史事件及人類文明成果密切相關(guān)。13世紀(jì)，馬可·波羅在上都覲見忽必烈，隨后在《馬可·波羅游記》中描繪了上都的繁華景象。幾百年來，隨著《馬可·波羅游記》的廣泛傳播，上都的英文譯名“Xanadu”在歐美國家傳播甚廣。

上都見證了元朝的輝煌歷史，歷經(jīng)風(fēng)雨洗禮，仍較完整地保留了原貌，成為目前保留最完整的草原都城。2012 年，元上都遺址列入世界遺產(chǎn)名錄。上都是古代文化融合的獨(dú)特產(chǎn)物，既有游牧民族特征，又有漢文化和其他文化的特色，體現(xiàn)了多元文化的相互影響。