North of the Great Wall, the Site of Xanadu encom­pass­es the remains of Kublai Khan&rsquo,s leg­endary cap­i­tal city, designed by the Mon­gol ruler&rsquos Chi­nese advi­sor Liu Bingzh­dong in 1256. Over a sur­face area of 25,000&nbspha, the site was a unique attempt to assim­i­late the nomadic Mon­go­lian and Han Chi­nese cul­tures. From this base, Kublai Khan estab­lished the Yuan dynasty that ruled Chi­na over a cen­tu­ry, extend­ing its bound­aries across Asia. The reli­gious debate that took place here result­ed in the dis­sem­i­na­tion of Tibetan Bud­dhism over north-east Asia, a cul­tur­al and reli­gious tra­di­tion still prac­tised in many areas today. The site was planned accord­ing to tra­di­tion­al Chi­nese feng shui in rela­tion to the near­by moun­tains and riv­er. It fea­tures the remains of the city, includ­ing tem­ples, palaces, tombs, nomadic encamp­ments and the Tiefan&rsquogang Canal, along with oth­er water­works.