Dingling
The underground palace.
calflier001 — CC BY-SA 2.0 · HALUK COMERTEL — CC BY 3.0 · HALUK COMERTEL — CC BY 3.0 · Haluk Comertel — CC BY 3.0 · Agencia de Noticias ANDES — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Agencia de Noticias ANDES — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Hugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China — CC0
A valley at the foot of the Tianshou Mountains in Changping, some 40 km north of central Beijing, where thirteen Ming emperors were buried from the Yongle Emperor onwards; he chose the site by the rules of feng shui after finishing the Forbidden City, and the tombs are part of the World Heritage listing of the imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Three tombs are open: Changling, the Yongle Emperor's own and the largest; Dingling, whose underground palace was excavated and is reached down stone stairways into vaulted marble chambers; and Zhaoling. The Sacred Way leads into the valley through a huge stone archway built in 1540, lined with large stone figures of animals and officials standing guard. Changling costs CNY 45 from April to October, Dingling 60, Zhaoling 30 and the Sacred Way 20, with lower winter prices; the sites open from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm in summer and to 4.30 pm in winter, with tickets sold at the gates, per Beijing's official tourism site. The tombs are spread out, so a car or a tour is the easy way to combine them.
The underground palace.
The largest tomb.
Stone guardians.
Changping District, about 40 km north of central Beijing
Dingling to go down into the underground palace and Changling for its great hall, then a walk along the Sacred Way; each site sells its own ticket at the gate.