He Long Dingling

After visiting the Great Wall and traveling through the mountain pass, we found ourselves at the Ming Tombs – a series of tombs dedicated to the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The tombs consist of beautifully landscaped gardens, a large pagoda and an underground palace (burial site). The tomb we went to, Dingling, was one of the first to be excavated and has 13 of the 16 emperors buried in its 40 sq km area. This was a very impressive site and we really enjoyed walking around the gardens and soaking up the atmosphere.

(It says - 'Luxuriant Grassland Please Do Not Trample')
Are they serious?

We stopped at the Museum on the way out and were quite amused by the fact that one of the emperors’ names was He Long. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I thought about He Long being buried at Dingling – hence He Long Dingling. Perhaps they knew I was coming.

After the tombs we embarked on a short journey to the “Spirit Way” – a beautifully designed pathway lined with animal and soldier statues that formed part of the funeral procession for the emperors. This was the last stop of our Great Wall/Ming Tombs tour and we were feeling pretty tired by this stage, but it was to stretch our legs one last time before making our way back to Beijing. All in all this was an amazing day, and we gained a real feel for the China of long ago. I was very surprised by how ruggedly mountainous this area was, and also by how brown and dry it was – apparently they have had a very dry year. Can’t help but think that this could mean we are in for an intense Yellow Dust season here in Korea – but that’s a story for another time.