Dingling Tomb
    Located at the eastern foot of the Dayu Mountain, Dingling is the joint burial tomb of the 13th Ming emperor zhu yijun and his two empresses. Zhu yijun(1563-1620), whose reign title was Wanli and posthumous title was Shenzong, ascended the throne at the age of 10 and ruled for 48 years until he died at the age of 58. It took six years to build Dingling, construction of which started in Nov. 1584 and ended in June 1590. Dingling covers an area of 180,000 square meters.
    The Underground Palace of Dingling is the only one of the Ming Tombs excavated so far. With the approval of State Council, the trial excavation started in May 1956 and was finished one year later. With a total floor space of 1,195 square meters, the Underground Palace is composed of five stone chambers: the front chamber, the middle chamber, the rear chamber and the left and right annex chambers. More than 3,000 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed from Dingling. In 1959 Dingling Museum was set up at the original site and was opened to the public.
Changling Tomb
    Changling Tomb Emperor Yongle's Tomb ranks the first among the thirteen Ming Mausoleums. Construction of Changling started in 1409 (the third year when Emperor Yongle issued an order to build Beijing Imperial Palace).It is the joint burial mausoleum of Emperor Yongle and his empress. With a history of about 600 years, it has been in good condition and remains resplendent. Because the project was massive and complex, huge amounts of manpower, material resources and financial resources were invested to construct Changling Tomb. It took as long as four years to construct the underground palace alone.
    Changling Tomb, built the earliest among the 13 Ming Mausoleums, is the largest and most magnificent as well as the best-preserved one.Ling'en Hall is the place where the heir emperors offered sacrifices to memorize Emperor Yongle. It is a double-eave structure with hip roof and the ground is paved with golden bricks. Sixty huge pillars and all wooden structural components are made of Jinsi Nanmu (a kind of rare and hard wood), which makes Ling'en Hall antique and unique.The bronze statue of Emperor Yongle, sitting in the throne carved with nine dragons, is extremely lifelike.
    Inside the Ling'en Hall, hundreds of pieces of rare jewelry unearthed from the Underground Palace of Dingling are on display; the on-the-spot videotape on excavating the Underground Palace is broadcast. They may shed some new light on the profound mystery of the Underground Palace.
Zhaoling Tomb
    Located at the eastern foot of Dayu Mountains, Zhaoling is the joint tomb of Zhu Zaihou, the 12th Ming emperor (1537-1572) and his three empresses. The Underground Palace of Zhaoling was built by Emperor Shizong for his parents on January 2, 1539.It was abandoned, however, as soon as it was completed. In 1572, it was ordered by the emperor to develop into an imperial mausoleum. Buildings were then added on the ground, and the mausoleum as a whole was completed in the following year. Occupying a land area of 34,600 square meters, the mausoleum basically followed the systems developed at the Tailing and Kangling in terms of architecture and layout. In front of the Soul Tower are five-room Ling'en Hall, the five-room side halls (on both the left and the right side), and the three-room Ling'en Gate, while the Tablet Pavilion, the Animal-slaughtering House and the Divine Kitchen are built in front of the tomb palace. The tomb mound rose, however, much higher, and a crescent town or the courtyard of dumb persons (who were employed to complete the last process of the mausoleum so that they could not tell the secrets of the mausoleum to others) was added as new items.
Sacred Way
    It's the sacred way of Changling as well. It's called the General Sacred Way because the sacred ways of all the tombs derived from here. Construction of the Sacred Way started from 1435 and more buildings were added in 1540. The Stone Memorial Arch, Great Red Gate(with Dismounting Steles at both sides),Stele Pavilion of Divine Merits and Sacred Virtues, Stone Statues and Animals, Dragon and Phoenix Gate, Five-Arch Bridge and Seven-Arch Bridge line from the south to the north. Among them, Stele Pavilion of Divine Merits and Sacred Virtues, the Stone Statues and Animals and Dragon and Phoenix Gates are the core architectures of the Sacred Way. The stone carvings, gravely modeled, accords with the solemn atmosphere of commemoration of the tombs and achieve a very high artistic level.
Yinshan Pagoda Forest
    Located 30 kilometers north of Changping District proper, the Yinshan Pagoda Forest is a site of cultural heritage listed by the State Council for key protection at the national level and an important component part of the Badaling-Ming Tombs Protection Zone of Scenic Spots and Sites of Historic.
    The Yinshan Mountains have got its name because of the snow and ice covering it in winter. It is also known as the Iron-wall Silver Hills because of its iron-looking precipices. It was known as one of the eight most beautiful scenic spots in Beijing during the Ming and the Qing dynasties.
    The mountains have three peaks thrusting into the clouds. Of the three, the middle peak outstands the other two with an altitude of 726.81 meters above the sea level.
Yongle: Mighty Ming
    Reputed by many to be the most important of all Ming emperors, Zhu Di (1360-1424) ranks high in the greatest Chinese emperors of all time. He was the third to rule the Ming dynasty, assuming the role of emperor after a civil war and taking the name Yongle. And with one of his first official actions being to move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, Yongle was also the driving force behind the Ming Tombs. It is there that he is entombed for eternity.