Balhae Shangjing City was the capital of the Balhae Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty in its middle and late periods. It was called the City of the King of Balhae Kindom at the very beginning. When Five Jing Systems were implemented, it was called Shangjing Longquanfu Captial, Huhan City in the Liao Dynasty and Tianfu City in the Dongdan Kingdom. The capital of the Balhae Kingdom was moved from Zhongjing Xiande Captial to Shangjing Longquanfu Captial in 755 A.D., then to Dongjing Longquan Captial in 785 A.D. and back to Shangjing Longquanfu Captial again in 795 A.D. In 926 A.D., Khitan defeated Balhae Kingdom and established Dongdan Kingdom in its site. In 928 A.D., Dongdan Kingdom moved to the south and the city was ruined. Balhae Shangjing City was founded as the capital successively for about 160 years.
Balhae Shangjing City was designed and built in imitation of Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty. The whole city was almost axisymmertically square and was divided into three parts, Outer City, Imperial City and Palace City.
The Balhae Shangjing City Relic is the perfectly preserved site of ancient capitals in China.