How to Visit Ming Xiaoling Tomb

Plan your Nanjing tour? The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the primary attraction and the only world cultural heritage site in Nanjing. Ming Xiaoling Tomb is one of the three major attractions in Zhongshan Mountain National Park. The other two attractions are Zhongshan Mausoleum and Linggu Temple.

Ming Xiaoling Tomb is the burial site of the Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang), the first emperor and founder of Ming Dyansty (1368-1644) of China. The tomb construction took 24 yeas from 1381 to ended in 1405. The mausoleum is mainly composed of the Sacred Way and the Mausoleum Complex.

Taking the subway line 2 and get off at the station of Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station 明孝陵（苜蓿）站, then you can walk to the site of Ming Xialing Tomb.

Now follow me to visit Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Take the subway line 2 and get off at the station Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station 明孝陵（苜蓿）站, the exit at Exit 1. When you exit from the subway station, you will see a huge sign with 7 Chinese charactors "钟山风景名胜区" (Zhongshan Mountain National Park) and under the 7 Chinese charators, you could recognize two subtitles "Dr.Sun Yat-sen' Mausoleum and The Ming Tomb" pointing to the passway to the two attractions.

A huge sign with 7 Chinese charactors 钟山风景名胜区

A huge sign with 7 Chinese charactors

Zhongshan Maountain National Park mainly comprise three attractions – The Ming Xiaoling Tomb, Zhongshan Mausoleum and Linggu Temple. All the three attractions are linked by electric carts, a kind of shuttle service. The Ming Tomb is located in the west of Zhongshan Moutain area, Zhongshan Mausoleum in the middle and Linggu Temple in the east. The Ming Tomb is quite close to the subway station. So you can walk from the subway line 2 station to the entrance to the Ming Tomb.

After visiting the Ming Tomb, you may have a 30-minute walk and take the park electric cart to the next attraction – Zhongshan Mausoleum. Then again have a half hour walk to Linggu Temple or take a park cart to the temple. Each section for taking an electric cart costs you RMB 5.

In a several minutes, you will come to the entrance to the Ming Tomb. The entrance ticket fee: RMB 70 ( a combined ticket to the Meihua Hill which is the mausoleum of Sun Quan, King of the Kingdom of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period (220-265). If you RMB 90, you will get a all-one ticket for the Ming Tomb, Zhongshan Musoelum, Linggu Temple, Open-air Music Hall.

In a several minutes, you will come to the entrance to the Ming Tomb.

You first come across the two sections of the Sacred Way – the Elephant Road and the Wengzhong Road. The Elephant Road is flanked by 12 pairs of animals ( 6 kinds of animals including lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin, and horses), which guard he tomb.

The Elephant Road

Then you will find two columns called huabiao in Chinese. Starting from the two columns, you wander along the Wengzhong Road lined with four pairs of ministers and generals of stone standing there for centuries to escort the mausoleum.

the Wengzhong Road lined with four pairs of ministers and generals of stone

Soon you will reach the main part of the Mausoleum including the Golden Water Bridge， Civil and Military Gate, Ming Tower and the Treasue Mound (the actual burial site). The construction system of Ming Xiaoling Tomb initiated the standard followed by thereafter the Ming and Qing dynastiies in building imperial tombs.

the Golden Water Bridge

The Civil and Military Gate is the first gate to the graveyard of the Ming Tomb.

Behind the gate, the first hall you will see is the Imperial Tablet Hall. The hall has 5 steles standing. The tablet mounted on a stone tortoise in the middle is engraved with 4 Chinese characters "治隆唐宋", which indicates the greatness of the Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang, matching (or outweight ) that of the founders of the Tang and Song Dynasties. The 4 charactors were written by Kangxi Emperor in Qing Dynasty.