The Ming Dynasty Tombs are Thirteen Tombs which come understandably enough from the Ming Dynasty. They are 50 kilometers due north of Beijing. The site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. The Ming tombs of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty are located on the southern slope of Mount Taishou. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.
A seven kilometer road named the "Spirit Way" (Shen dao) leads into the complex, lined with statues of guardian animals and officials, with a front gate consisting of three arches, painted red, and called the "Great Red Gate". The Spirit Way, or Sacred Way, starts with a huge stone memorial archway lying at the front of the area. Constructed in 1540, during the Ming Dynasty, this archway is one of the biggest stone archways in China today.
None of the tombs could actually be seen while we were there, but we walked through the entrance gates and...
...climbed the tower, from where we could see down on the complex below. Then back to the Volendam. The next day we returned to Beijing to start at Tiananmen Square