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Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom

In 2004, the Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom in China were added to the United Nations list of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage. The site includes the capital cities of Wunu Mountain City, Guonei City and Wandu Mountain City; fourteen imperial tombs; twenty-six noble tombs; a General's Tomb; and the monument to the nineteenth Emperor of the Koguryo Kingdom. These ancient remains are mostly located around Ji'an city in Jinlin Province and Huanren County in Liaoning Province in northeast of China.

Koguryo was a kingdom that ruled part of northeast China and the northern-half of the Korean Peninsula from 37 BC to 668 AD. The remains we see today are evidence of its once splendid, but vanished, civilization.

Wunu Mountain City inCapital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom scenic area was the first capital city the Koguryo built, and it is also the earliest city of the one-hundred kingdom extant cities along the Yalu River. This mountain city was constructed by following Chinese architectural traditions but with great innovations in selecting location, building city walls, and processing stone. Guonei City and Wandu Mountain City were the compound capital cities for most of Koguryo's history, and they have been shown, through archeological and architectural studies on their remains, to be the masterpieces of the capital cities.

There are about seven thousand tombs outside of the mountain city and many of them have exquisite murals, rich in content and color, showing the Koguryo kingdom's culture and daily life. Hunting, wars, religions (Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism), and other aspects of life are depicted.

According to archeological research, the General's Tomb--located northeast of Ji'an City--is said to be the tomb of the twentieth emperor. It looks quite like the tomb of the Pharaoh in ancient Egypt and thus was given the name: the Oriental Pyramid.

So far, only three written relics have been found telling of Koguryo's history. Among them, the Hao Tai Wang monument (or stele) has the longest and richest content. The monument was built to commemorate the nineteenth emperor, and the inscription recorded the emperor's merits and achievements as well as the legend of the beginning and development of the Koguryo. Engraved in Chinese characters, the inscription shows the cultural blend of the Koguryo and the Chinese.

How to get to Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom from Changchun

Take a bus from Changchun Gaosu Bus Station to Ji'an (taking about 5h) and then take a taxi to reach Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom. The buses depart at 7:45 and 17:30.

Entrance Fee	CNY 100
Opening Hours	8:00 - 18:00

- Last updated on Aug. 29, 2018 -

Questions & Answers on Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom

Asked by Mr.GHISLAIN1957 from CA | Jun. 18, 2014 06:11

How to go to Huanren County in Liaoning Province

I will be a few weeks in Liaoning province in july, in Yingkou city. How do I get to Huanren County from Yingkou?

Answers (1)

Answered by Kate from USA | Jun. 19, 2014 02:19

You are suggested to go to Yingkou Bus Station to take a bus for Benxi and from Benxi, frequent buses to Huanren county can be found.

Asked by Luis from COLOMBIA | Jul. 22, 2013 23:59

I want to know how to get Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom from Changchun, thanks.

Answers (1)

Answered by Lily from USA | Jul. 24, 2013 03:45

From Changchun, you need to take a train to reach Tonghua first and only two trains operate between: K7392/K7393 and K7388/K7389.
Then from Tonghua, you can find one train (6374) to reach Ji'an directly. Then you can hire a local taxi to reach that attraction.

Asked by Traveler of old worlds | Apr. 18, 2013 10:34

Distance from Tonghua to Ji'an

First off, thanks for all your informative articles, they've really helped me out in the past. It's a bit difficult finding information on the Koguryo sites and how to get there, though, even on Chinese web sites. Do you know how far it is from Tonghua train station to Ji'an - or, better yet, from there to Wandu Mountain City? To me, it seems that Wandu Mountain City appears to be the bulk of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. I also have a question about Wunu Mountain - what does it contain aside from scenery, any tombs? Thank you very much in advance.

Answers (1)

Answered by Gordan from MEXICO | Apr. 19, 2013 03:26

Hi, it is around 100km between Tonghua to Ji'an. The Wandu Mountain City is only about 2.5 km from JI'an city center.

It is just an ancient city. Besides the historical sites, there are also tombs there. As I know, at least 37 tombs are found there.

Asked by Mei | Jan. 18, 2013 06:51

car hire for Koguryu Sites

how much will it cost for 2 person to hire a car with driver for 1 day? We want to be pick up from the train station then a day trip to all the Koguryu sites then back to the train station. Please give us a ball park on how much it will cost. Thank you.

Answers (1)

Answered by Rita | Jan. 22, 2013 01:32

As I know, the car rental fare is around CNY200-300 for a day travel and you need pay extra for the driver.

Asked by rai | Dec. 18, 2012 22:50

Capital Cities and Tombs of Ancient Koguryo Kingdom Tour

how much will it cost to hire a ride to visit all the sites in 1 day? We will be coming straight from the airport and after the tour we wish to be drop off to the nearest train station. What is the cheapest way to visit the sites? thank you.

Answers (2)

Answered by Fenny | Dec. 19, 2012 01:43

Well, how many people in your group and what kind of vehicle do you want to hire?

Answered by rai | Dec. 19, 2012 07:09

3 person. I understand that no direct buses goes to the site but are the sites walking distance to each other? Do you need to pay entrance fee for each site? I checked other website but can't seem to find any concrete direction on how to reach the location. We will be visiting a lot of UNESCO sites in China so we want to save as much money as possible. If anyone can give as directions on how to visit the site as cost effective as possible we will very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance.