The spirit way
Lined with stone statues.
Charlie fong — CC BY-SA 4.0 · EditQ — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom — CC BY 2.0 · Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom — CC BY 2.0 · Bairuilong — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anagoria — CC BY 3.0 · Anagoria — CC BY 3.0 · Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom — CC BY 2.0
China's largest, most complete and best-preserved imperial burial complex, ringed by mountains over some eighty square kilometres; five emperors of the Qing dynasty, Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng and Tongzhi, lie here with fifteen empresses, 136 imperial consorts, and princes and princesses, and it is part of the «Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties» on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 2000. At its heart is the tomb of the Shunzhi Emperor, the first to be buried here, and the others follow its pattern: a long «spirit way» lined with stone statues of animals and officials, crossed by stone bridges and led by a gateway and a stele pavilion; then sacrificial halls under yellow roofs; then the soul tower before the mound that holds the grave. The most visited are Yuling, the tomb of the Qianlong Emperor; Ding Dongling, the tomb of the Empress Dowager Cixi, known for its gilded halls; and the tomb of the Kangxi Emperor. Tickets cost CNY 138 including the area bus, and the site is open from 8.30 am to 5 pm with last entry at 4.30 pm, per visitor guides.
Lined with stone statues.
Yuling.
Gilded halls.
Zunhua, north-west of Tangshan, about 125 km north-east of Beijing, Hebei
They lie about 125 km from Beijing, and most visitors come by car or on a tour as a full-day trip, with the area bus linking the scattered tombs.
Choices are few in the area, so bring food and look in Beijing or Tangshan for restaurants run by Hui Muslims under the halal sign.