Beijing Sightseeing
Beijing sightseeing spotsBeijing sightseeing tours
Beijing evening tour
Beijing travel tips
Beijing nightlife
Beijing shopping
Beijing restaurant
Beijing weather
Beijing foreign embassies
Beijing subway map
Beijing airport transfer
Great wall tour
Beijing china tour
Beijing nightlife
Beijing day tours
Beijing hutong
Beijing tours
Popular Scenic Spots
Tiananmen Square & Forbidden CitySummer Palace
Temple of Heaven
Ming Tombs
Hutong (traditional part of Beijing)
Beijing Zoo
Lama Temple
Xiushui Market/Silk Market
The Sacred Way
Bird's Nest & Water Cube (Olympic Village)
National Centre of Performing Arts
Olympic Green
Great Wall at Juyongguan (the most magnificent)
Great Wall at Badaling (the most famous)
Great wall at Mutianyu (the prettiest)
Great wall at Simatai (good for hiking)
Great wall at Jinshanling (good for hiking)
Huanghuacheng Great wall (not officially open, steep)
Jiankou Great wall (steepest)
- The Most Popular Scenic Spots
Ming Tombs
-
The Ming Tombs are considered as a whole of mausoleums of thirteen emperors after the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle moved the capital from Nanjing to present Beijing. The Ming Tombs are located about 44 kilometers to the north of Beijing. They are scattered over a basin approximately 40 square kilometers in area, screened by mountains on three sides and open to the Beijing Plain in the south. The road leading to the tombs is guarded by the Tiger Hill on the left and the Dragon Hill on the right. In ancient times, it was a forbidden ground except for those who were officially in charge of its upkeep. It was not allowed to cultivate land, cut wood or to take stones from here. No one could enter it on horseback, even the emperor himself had to dismount at the gate. 
In up to 200 years, Changling, Xianling, Jingling, Yuling, Maoling, Tailing, Kangling, Yongling, Zhaoling, Dingling, Qingling, Deling, Siling were built here in turn. Hence it was called Ming Tombs. There are in total 13 emperors, 23 empresses as well as another scores of persons buried alive with the dead. The Sacred Way with a length of up to seven kilometers leads to each Ming Tomb. The site of Ming Tombs is the ancient tomb complex which is preserved most perfectly and buried with most emperors. It has extremely high historical and cultural relics value.
At present, besides of the Sacred Way, only three tombs are open to the public: Changling, Dingling and Zhaoling.
Changling
Changling is the earliest and largest tomb among the Ming Tombs. It was built for the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, and took 18 years to complete. Emperor Zhu Di ordered to build the Forbideen City, and commissioned the Great Dictionary of Yongle (Yongle Dadian) and sent the eunuch Admiral Cheng He to South-East Asia, Ceylon, India, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
The layout of Chang Ling copies the pattern of Xiao Ling in Nanjing, tomb of the first Ming Emperor. Structures proceeding along the central axis are: the Front Gate to the tomb, the Gate of Eminent Favor, the Hall of Eminent Favors (LingEn Dian), the Dragon and the Phoenix Gate, Soul Tower and the Wall-Encircled Earth Mound. The Hall of Eminent Favors (LingEn Dian) serves as a museum for the precious artifacts found in the imperial coffins and twenty-three wooden chests in Dingling.
Dingling
Ding Ling, one of the tombs at the Ming Dynasty Tombs site, is the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, the thirteenth emperor who occupied the throne the longest during the Ming Dynasty, and his two empresses. It is the only one of the Ming Dynasty Tombs to have been excavated. Dingling is under ground and about 27 meters deep. Dingling consists of main features such as the Stone Bridge, Soul Tower, Baocheng and the Underground Place, which was unearthed between 1956 and 1958. The entire palace is made of stone. The Soul Tower forms the entrance to the underground chambers and is symbolic of Dingling. The yellow glazed tiles, archway, rafters, eaves and columns are all painted colorfully.Â
Zhaoling
Takes up an area of 35,000 square meters, Zhaoling is in the west of the Ming Tombs. The twelfth emperor of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Zaihou and his three empresses were buried here. First built in 1538, the surface structure of the tomb has been repaired for several times. There are stele pavilions, the stone bridge, the Ling'en Gate, the Ling'en Hall, the Linxing Gate, the stone sacrificial dais, the Bright Building, the Gold Dome, and so on.
Sacred Way
The Sacred Way is part of the Ming Tombs complex. It is a long, straight path flanked by statues first of ancient government officials and then by animals. The Sacred Way ends at a stone archway. Built in 1540, it is now a monumental construction, built of white marble with five arches. Six rectangular pillars support it with beautiful bas-relief carvings (lions, dragons, lotus flowers). It is 14 meters high and 28.86 meters wide.
To north of the archway, there are two hills on both sides of the Sacred Way, one is Dragon Hill and the other Tiger Hill. It seems like that a dragon and a tiger are guarding the gate to Ming Tombs. This gate is called as “Big Red Gate†which is the main entrance. At each side of the gate, there is a tablet written: “Dignitaries, officials and other persons arriving here must dismount from their horses.â€
North of the Big Red Gate, there is the stele pavilion. Four Ornamental Pillars stand around the Pavilion. Each Ornamental Pillars is carved 41 dragons and a mythical beast on the top. There are also stone statues, and Dragon-Phoenix Gate to the pavilion's north.
Admission fee list:
Changling: 45RMB, Dingling: 65RMB, Zhaoling: 45RMB, Sacred Way: 50RMB