Yay, cemeteries

We got into Beijing about midday on Sunday, got an overpriced taxi to our hotel and checked in. At that hotel there was a tour booking office, we went to have a look and ended up booking two tours for the next two days. The first tour went to two tourist spots and two shopping spots, the next day went to three tourist spots and two shopping spots.

So the next day we got up bright and early found our tour guide and eventually out tour bus and off we went.

The first place we visited was the Ming Tombs. But basically some Emperors from the Ming Dynasty built huge elaborate tombs for themselves, their wives and their concubines (one had about 2000 concubines apparently). The royal families used to travel out to the site to pay respects to their ancestors, it would be about a seven day tour for them. The main room where they stayed has now been turned into a museum of sorts. We visited one of the tombs, the 3rd emperor of the Ming Dynasty tomb. His name sounds an awful lot like Judy and He built the biggest of the tombs for himself.

Anyway here are some pictures.

Main buildings





Jade Belts owned by Rich People. Apparently the greener the Jade the more valuable it is. The top one is worth a lot more than bottom one.



The actual burial place of Judy, sorry, Zhu Di, and his wife is under a huge mound of dirt that is one kilometre across. It hasn't yet been excavated because the Chinese Government is worried that they don't yet have the skills to do it properly. Before the mound there is a tall monument. This the view from the top.



If you look in the middle of this photo you can see one of the other tombs in the distance (there are 13 tombs in all, 3 that are open to the public)



You can find out more about the Ming Tombs here.