Eastern Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty
2h · Admission ticket included
Start off at 8:00am. After about 2.5 hours driving, arrive at the Eastern Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty. Visit the Yuling tomb for Qianlong emperor was the longest reigning Qing emperor. His tomb, which took over 50 years to build, is particularly splendid. It is composed of three chambers with four doors, in the shape of the Chinese character "Zhu", meaning "ruler". The marble carvings on the walls and ceilings are of high artistic value. Among the most notable features are the eight bodhisattvas, four devarajas, small buddhas and Buddhist sutras carved in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages. The tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, Dingdongling, is the most advanced of all the Qing Tombs for its technical and artistic skill. the carving on the central ramp leading to the main hall shows a dragon and a phoenix playing with a pearl in the clouds, but in a reversal of the usual pattern, the phoenix being above dragon. The inner walls of the main and side halls are covered with gold leaf in a design of bats which symbolizes good luck and the Chinese character "happiness".