Why did the Yuan court move between Shangdu in summer and Dadu in winter?

The Yuan court’s practice of moving between Shangdu and Dadu was rooted in the Mongol tradition of maintaining a nomadic lifestyle, even as the dynasty established a centralized bureaucracy in China.1

By alternating between these two residences—Shangdu in the summer and Dadu in the winter—the Mongol rulers sought to preserve their ancestral customs while simultaneously governing their vast empire from a fixed, administrative capital. While Dadu (modern-day Beijing) served as the political center of the Yuan dynasty, the court's seasonal migration reflected a persistent dualism, as the Mongol aristocracy remained committed to their heritage despite the growing Sinicization of the court and the adoption of traditional Chinese administrative structures.12