The site was chosen in 1409 by the Yongle Emperor, who had already moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Feng shui shaped the whole valley: mountains to the north and east, a river bend to the south, and a seven-kilometer approach road called the Sacred Way lined with paired stone animals and officials. Thirteen of the sixteen Ming emperors are buried here.
Changling
Changling is the tomb of Yongle and his empress, and it is the largest and best preserved of the group. Its Hall of Eminent Favor is a triple-eaved timber hall standing on a three-tiered stone terrace, supported by enormous nanmu columns. The hall has survived nearly six hundred years without a major rebuild, and the scale of the columns is the thing visitors remember.
Dingling
Dingling belongs to the Wanli Emperor. Between 1956 and 1958 archaeologists excavated its underground palace, and it remains the only Ming imperial tomb opened this way. You descend into a sequence of stone chambers cut deep under the mound, where the emperor and two empresses were buried. The original objects are displayed in the museum halls above; the burial chambers themselves are cool, dim and almost empty, which is part of their effect.
Practical notes
The tombs are about 45 kilometers north of central Beijing, roughly an hour by road. Most visitors combine them with a Mutianyu or Badaling Great Wall stop on the same day. Wear shoes for uneven stone paving, and allow two to three hours to cover both Changling and Dingling properly. The Sacred Way is worth walking at least part of, ideally in the morning before the coaches arrive.
