Hetu Ala 赫图阿拉城

About Hetu Ala

Its position on a ridge between waterways explains the Manchu name, often translated as a horizontal ridge. The inner and outer city enclosures organised political, military and domestic activity. Within the visitor site, the accession-platform area, office sites and old well provide a more concrete way to explore that history than treating every reconstructed building as an untouched early-seventeenth-century survivor.

Hetu Ala was built starting in 1603 as the first capital where Nurhaci founded his state and took the title of khan. After the capital moved to Liaoyang in 1622, Hetu Ala became known as the 'old city', and in 1634 its Chinese name was changed to Xingjing (兴京). In 2006 it was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位).

The city stands on a terrace southeast of the confluence of the Suzi River (苏子河) and the Erdao River (二道河), about three kilometers east of present-day Yongling (永陵镇). It backs onto Baicha Mountain (白岔山) to the southeast, faces Yanchong Mountain (烟囱山) across the Erdao River to the west, connects to Yangbizi Mountain (羊鼻子山) to the south, and faces Yaoling Mountain (腰岭山) across the Suzi River to the north, with water on three sides and mountains on the fourth.

The city had an inner and an outer wall, with a circumference of five li for the inner wall and ten li for the outer, and nine gates in total. The outer wall enclosed an area with a perimeter of 5,230 meters, while the inner city, built on the ridge itself, had a perimeter of 2,027 meters and covered 246,000 square meters.

What to look for

• The inner and outer city layout, shaped by the ridge and surrounding waterways.
• The accession-platform area and surviving or interpreted office, well and settlement sites.

Location & getting there

Getting to Hetu Ala

Go to Laocheng Village in Yongling Town, Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County. Hetu Ala lies east of Yongling town and is a separate site from the Qing Yongling tombs.