the ming tombs

Today I went to the Ming Tombs, where the emperors of the Ming Dynasty are buried. It was really exciting because I took public transport there the whole way. It wasn't really rural China, but it was out of Beijing and the mountains were all around. It was pretty cool to be on a bus going through orchards in China! In the last few days I feel like I've been beginning to understand what Beijing is really like. 

Anyway, I caught a two buses up there (thanks for the Lonely Planet book Fel!). Changing buses was interesting because it wasn't at the same bus stop, but I got there! It took about two hours all up. This is the soul tower of the Chang Ling tomb.

There are 13 tombs in all, though only three are open to the public. Of those, you can only get into the actual of one. I went to two tombs. They all have a soul tower, whichy is what you see here.
I think this is an original... it's the had that Emperor Weling was found in when the excavated his tomb. Pretty old!

This is the underground tomb. It was actually a little disappointing, but that could be because it was looted in the Cultural Revolution. Also, when they were excavating it, they put all the treasures in a warehouse that had a leak... nice way to ruin priceless stuff.

These are replicas of the emperors and empress's coffins.

I was really happy to be able to get there and back by bus. I got off a little village half way between the tombs and the interchange and had a massive lunch. I really liked getting off and on where I pleased and exploring out of Beijing a bit.