A character made of walls
The National Cultural Heritage Administration describes Liao Shangjing as standing southeast of Lindong Town in Bairin Left Banner, Chifeng. It is in the first batch of national protected sites. The plan is roughly the shape of the character ri: the imperial city on the north, the Han city on the south. Archaeology has recognised an eastward axis through the imperial city and the palace city, a direction the page treats as a Khitan choice rather than a copy of a south-facing Chinese capital.
5.9 square kilometres
The banner government gives the walled area as 5.9 square kilometres, 2.8 kilometres from north to south and 1.8 from east to west. The imperial city is an irregular hexagon. The page says the Jin took the city in 1120 and that it was gradually abandoned after the Yuan. This is not Liao Zhongjing in Ningcheng. The two Liao capitals are both in today's Chifeng and they are not interchangeable.
Facing east
The heritage administration's note on the eastward axis is the detail that changes how the grass reads. A visitor looking for a south gate as the main approach is using the wrong diagram. The page links that axis to the Khitan practice of governing according to custom, and the nested palace inside the imperial city to a Han-style insistence on the ruler's place. The walls are the argument. They do not need a slogan added.
