Chaoyang
People's Republic of China · Asia
About Chaoyang
Chaoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Liaoning province, People's Republic of China.
With a vast land area of almost 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi), it is by area the largest prefecture-level city in Liaoning, and borders on Hebei province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the west.
The area under Chaoyang's jurisdictional control is split up into two counties (Jianping, Chaoyang), two urban districts (Longcheng, Shuangta), two county-level cities (Beipiao, Lingyuan), and the Harqin Left Wing Mongolian Autonomous County. The total regional population is 3 million, while the urban centre where the government office is located has a population of 430,000 and forms the core of Chaoyang.
Known as China's 'fossil city', many important paleontological discoveries have been made in Chaoyang, and the Harqin region is the oldest currently known prehistoric site in northern China. Two of the most remarkable Early Cretaceous birds known to date were recovered in the vicinity of the Jiufotang Formation rocks and named Longipteryx chaoyangensis and Sapeornis chaoyangensis in reference to the city.
Chaoyang travel guide
Understand
This is the site of the oldest civilisation found in China, a neolithic culture that is almost 7,000 years old. Chaoyang also was a centre of Buddhism starting in the 4th century C.E. Chaoyang is known as China's 'fossil city' because of the groundbreaking paleontological discoveries that have been made there, including feathered dinosaurs and ancient birds and insects.
See
1 Chaoyang Bird Fossil National Geopark (朝阳鸟化石国家地质公园; Cháoyáng Niǎohuàshí Guójiādìzhìgōngyuán), 100 Longniao Street, Longcheng District (朝阳市龙城区龙鸟大街100号) (bus no. 15), ☏ +86 421 3862200. 09:00-17:00 (summer), 09:00-16:00 (winter), no entry in last 30 minutes. On this site during the 1990s, fossils were found that revolutionised human understanding of dinosaurs and the evolution of birds. In Chaoyang, they found feathered dinosaurs as well as some of the earliest examples of birds. Tickets can be purchased on the official WeChat account. The park reopened in April 2025 after completing a major upgrade. ¥85 (standard price), ¥43 (full-time students and persons aged 60 to 69), free admission is granted to children under 1.3 meters and persons aged 70 and over. Dalinghe National Water Park and Scenic Area (大凌河水利风景区; Dàlínghéshuǐlìfēngjǐngqū).
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.