[5] The area first appears in Chinese historical records as “Liucheng County” in the Early Han period of the 3rd century B.C.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Liucheng (renamed from Longcheng) was the seat of Ying Prefecture (Yingzhou, 營州).

It was a prosperous multi-cultural city whose inhabitants included the Khitans, Kumo Xi, Mohe, Shiwei, Goguryeo, Göktürks and Sogdians.

The Khitan general Li Guangbi of Tang dynasty, who played an instrumental role during the war against the An Lushan rebels, was a native of Liucheng.

In 1891, a Chinese secret society named Jindandao raised a rebellion, massacring tens of thousands of Mongols and forcing survivors to flee northward.

[8] The People's Republic of China incorporated Chaoyang into Liaoning Province in 1955 although ethnic Mongols wished to join Inner Mongolia.

In addition to wheat, corn, beans, and potatoes, Chaoyang is also an important region for the growing of cotton and fruit.

The city has also begun to venture into the production of shaji (sea-buckthorn berries), which have become popular in China because of their dual use as food and as medicine.

Chaoyang has more than 1,600 industrial enterprises, manufacturing a wide range of products including steel, machinery, textiles, diesel engines, automobiles, and paper.

Insects have also been found such as Dictyoptera, a fossilised cockroach and Hymenoptera, a fossil bee, which also date to the Lower Cretaceous period.

A local trade in rare fossils has developed in the wake of the finds, with an estimated sixty vendors gathering in one area, called Ancient Street.