Wandu Mountain City is an inspiring site of ancient civilisation where visitors can walk freely, often alone in nature, among rock pyramids, reassembled artifices and giant stone cairns. Erected after the destruction of Wandu, this vast cemetery for the city’s noblemen is so far unaffected by mass tourism. The sight of the massive rock piles in fields of Spanish needle (Bidens pilosa) is probably the most photogenic in all Ji'an.
First built in AD 3, this city became capital of the Koguryo kingdom in 209, after the fall of the first capital, Guonei city (on the site of present-day Ji'an). There’s little left of the original buildings, but scrambling about the terraces and taking in the views is a highlight of travel to the region. You can sense why the Korean kingdom decided to establish the capital here.
Wandu is a 6.5km drive west of the train station.