Koguryo (Goguryeo in Korean, 高句丽 in Chinese) was a kingdom that ruled much of north-east China and the northern Korean peninsula from around the first century BCE until 668, when it was conquered by Silla and the Tang. Its early capitals were at Wunü Mountain and Ji'an, and later at Pyongyang.

Can the tomb murals be seen?

Most painted tombs are closed to protect the murals; the Ji'an Museum shows reproductions. The exteriors of the General's Tomb, the Tomb of King Taewang and the tomb fields below Wandu Mountain City can be visited.

Historic city · Border city · Jilin

Ji'an

集安 (Jí'ān)

Koguryo capital on the Yalu

Ji'an is a county-level city on the Yalu River in southern Jilin, facing North Korea. For more than four centuries it was the capital of the Koguryo kingdom, and its city walls, mountain fortress, royal stele and pyramid tombs form the core of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

ProvinceJilin

Key facts

Province: Jilin
Administrative level: County-level city under Tonghua
Area: about 3,340 km²[1]
Koguryo capital: 3 CE–427
UNESCO World Heritage: Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom (2004)[2]

Overview

Ji'an lies in a sheltered bend of the Yalu, surrounded by the Laoling hills, with the North Korean town of Manpo on the opposite bank. Its mild climate for the Northeast has long allowed grapes, ginseng and fruit to grow here.

The town is built on top of Guonei City, the Koguryo capital from the early first century CE until 427, when the kingdom moved its capital to Pyongyang. Thousands of tombs, from simple cairns to the stepped stone pyramid known as the General's Tomb, fill the valley, and the stele of King Gwanggaeto is one of the most important inscriptions of early North-East Asia.

Names and nicknames

Gungnae
国内城 (Guónèi Chéng)
The name of the Koguryo capital whose walls stand in the city centre.
塞外小江南 (sàiwài xiǎo Jiāngnán)
“little Jiangnan beyond the frontier”
For its mild climate, sheltered by mountains, compared with the rest of the Northeast.

History

Koguryo moved its capital from Wunü Mountain in present-day Liaoning to the Yalu valley in 3 CE, according to the traditional chronology, and built the fortified city of Guonei on the plain and Wandu Mountain City in the hills behind it. The capital was sacked by the Former Yan in 342 and moved to Pyongyang in 427. The site was rediscovered in the late nineteenth century when the Gwanggaeto stele was found.

3 CE
Koguryo capital moves to the Yalu
The kingdom established its capital at Guonei City, with Wandu Mountain City as its refuge fortress.
342
Former Yan sack the capital
The Xianbei state of Former Yan captured Wandu; Koguryo rebuilt and recovered.
414
Gwanggaeto stele erected
King Jangsu set up the inscribed stone recording his father's conquests.
427
Capital moved to Pyongyang
Ji'an remained an important secondary city until Koguryo's fall in 668.
2004
UNESCO World Heritage
The Koguryo capitals and tombs at Ji'an and Huanren were inscribed.

Landmarks

Historic site
Guonei City walls
国内城 (Guónèi Chéng)
Stone walls of the Koguryo capital, partly preserved in the centre of the modern town.
Historic site
Wandu Mountain City
丸都山城 (Wándū Shānchéng)
Hill fortress north of the town with stone walls, a palace site and a field of cairn tombs below it.
Historic site
Stele of King Gwanggaeto
好太王碑 (Hǎotàiwáng Bēi)
A 6.4-metre stone inscribed with some 1,800 characters, now in a protective pavilion.
Historic site
General's Tomb
将军坟 (Jiāngjūn Fén)
Stepped granite pyramid tomb of seven tiers, usually attributed to King Jangsu.
Museum
Ji'an Museum
集安博物馆 (Jí'ān Bówùguǎn)
Museum of Koguryo finds, with reproductions of tomb murals.

Neighbourhoods

Yalu riverbank
鸭绿江畔 (Yālù Jiāng pàn)
Riverside promenade facing Manpo in North Korea.

Food

Ji'an wild-grape wine
集安山葡萄 (Jí'ān shān pútao)
Ice wine and wine from grapes grown in the sheltered Yalu valley.
Ginseng
人参 (rénshēn)
Grown in the surrounding hills and used in soups and chicken dishes.

Culture

Ji'an's identity rests on the Koguryo heritage and the border. Its Korean community, ginseng farming and river views of North Korea set it apart from other towns of the province.

Getting around

Ji'an has a railway station on the line from Tonghua, which continues across the Yalu to North Korea; Tonghua has the nearest airport.
The main Koguryo sites lie within a few kilometres of the town centre.

Day trips

Wunü Mountain City (Huanren, Liaoning)
五女山城 (Wǔnǚ Shānchéng)
The clifftop fortress identified as the first Koguryo capital, part of the same World Heritage site.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Jilin Provincial People's Government — Jilin Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Tonghua Municipal People's Government — Tonghua Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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