Beijing tour:Ming Tombs

           Ming Tombs is located in Changping district about 70 kilometers away northward from downtown. It is the largest imperial cemetery in the world where so many emperors and empresses were buried. The Ming Tombs was first built in 1409 for the wife of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. From then on, all the emperors followed the suit and had theirs tombs built there.
         Taking an area about 40 square kilometers, the Ming Tombs are made up of 13 large tombs for 13 emperors and some symbolic buildings,such as the stone memorial gate –Pailou in Chinese, the big Red Gate, Beilou, a tower covering a huge tablet, as well  as the stone statues on the both sides of the Sacred Road. Among 13 larger tombs, there are two tombs open to tourists; one is Changling, another Dingling. In 1956 the Dingling was excavated and lots of burying objects were founded. Now the Dingling is mainly made up of two parts, three exhibition rooms and one underground palace, some burying objects are on display. The Changling only has one grand wooden palace above ground, but now it serves as an exhibition room.

        Combining Chinese traditional Yinyang and Fengshui theory, the Ming Tombs exhibits a different culture concerning tombs, burial ceremony and the belief of the afterworld. All these make it unique and a priceless treasure of world. In 2003 the Ming Tombs was added on the List of World Heritage by UNESCO.