How to Visit Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (Tips, Photos & Map)

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.

How to get to Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum

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.

How to Visit Ming Xiaoling Tomb

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 characters “钟山风景名胜区” (Zhongshan Mountain National Park) and under the 7 Chinese characters, you could recognize two subtitles “Dr.Sun Yat-sen’ Mausoleum and The Ming Tomb” pointing to the pathway to the two attractions.

The Ming Tomb is located in the west of Zhongshan Moutain area, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the Music Stage 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 – Sun Yat-sen 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).

Virtual Tour of Ming Xiaoling Tomb

Now follow me to visit Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. The Ming Tomb is quite close to the subway station. A few steps from the subway exit, you will see the signpost pointing to the Ming Tomb ( the mausoleum).

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 character’s were written by Kangxi Emperor in Qing Dynasty.

The Ming Tower is built atop the rectangular citadel, a highest building in the mausoleum compound. 

The Treasure Mound behind the Ming Tower is the actual site of the Ming Tomb. 

There 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.

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.

Tip:  Hassle-free Jiangsu Guided Tours

If you don’t want to do a self-guided tour and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for organized tours to Jiangsu Province:

Further Readings

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