Dadu, which was located in present Beijing, became the capital of Yuan Dynasty several years after it was founded. Thus it got the full name Yuan Dadu.
Since it was a newly-built city, the planning of Dadu was not restricted to any old patterns. Thus different from the Zhongdu of Jin Dynasty which combined old and new lanes and streets, the residential area of Dadu were built with open lanes and streets, orderly-planned, straight from north to south and east to west. Each two opposite city gates were often connected by an avenue.
As the capital, the political and cultural center of Yuan Dynasty who had a vast territory, Dadu was densely-populated and its commercial economy was rather prosperous.