the Eastern Qing Tombs

    The Eastern Qing Tombs, located in Zunhua City which near Qinhuangdao City, is one of the largest existing tombs with better design and reasonable layout in China. 
    The Eastern Qing Tombs is majestic, with Changrui Hill behind shaped likea green curtain, the Gold Star Hill in the south like a person holding a jade tablet, the Yingbi Hill in the middle like a desk to write on, the Yingfeidaoyang Hill in the east like a green dragon and the Huanghua Hill in the west like a white tiger crouching. Two long rivers in the east and west flow around it like two ribbons. It is located on a wide and flat land surrounded by hills. Emperor Shunzhi was stunned to see clear water and green hills when he hunted here. He decreed that this place would become his tomb when he died. 
    In the 15 tombs covering an area of 78 square kilometers, 5 emperors, 15 empresses, 136 imperial concubines, 3 princes and 2 princesses were buried. The emperors include Shunzhi who was the first emperor when the Manzu ruled the whole of China, Kangxi who created a prosperous age, and Qianlong who was a perfect emperor in both literary writing and military strategy. The empresses include Xiaozhuangwen, who assisted two emperors in governing China, Ci'an and Cixi, who attended to state affairs behind the bamboo curtain, and imperial concubine Xiangfei, who gave us a lot of mysteries. In addition, here are emperor Tongzhi and some others. 
    The buildings in the Eastern Qing Tombs are huge, majestic and refined. Of more than 580 separate buildings, the existing widest stone memorial archway made up of 6 columns, the 6,000-meter-long road to Xiao Tomb which rises and falls along the hills, Qianlong's tomb chamber that can be called “Stone Carving Treasury” and “Buddhist Hall Under the Ground” with many refined Buddhist carvings, Cixi's tomb which has gold, stone and wood rarely seen today and 3 luxury halls covered with gold leaf with “dragon below and phoenix above” and “phoenix leading dragon” are just a few representatives.
    The Eastern Qing Tombs was listed by UNESCO as a World Culture Heritage Site on November 30, 2000 with her important history, artistic and scientific value. In 2001, The Eastern Qing Tombs was evaluated the national-level AAAA grade by National Tourism Administration.

Publishes at : 07-07-11 21:04

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