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    Situated at the foot of Tianshou Mountains of Changping District, Beijing, the Ming Tombs is the cemetery of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).Covering an area of 80 square kilometers, it?s about 50 kilometers away from Beijing city proper.

Construction of the Ming Tombs started in 1409 and ended in 1644, when the Ming Dynasty collapsed. It took 200 plus years to build the Ming Tombs from beginning to end.13 imperial tombs, 7 concubines, tombs and a eunuch?s tomb are scattered in the valley.

The Ming Tombs is relatively conserved well compared with other Chinese imperial tombs. It boasts high historic and cultural values due to its grand architecture, complete system and long history. To conserve the cultural heritage, the central government has restored and maintained the Ming Tombs since the founding of the People?s Republic of China. The Ming Tombs was promulgated by Beijing Municipal Government as one of the first batch of key ancient architecture and cultural heritage conservation site in 1957.
    It was listed as key cultural heritage under state conservation in 1961.The Ming Tombs area was announced as a national key scenic spot by State Council in 1982.It was evaluated as one of the best 40 scenic spots in China by National Tourism Administration in 1991.The Ming Tombs was evaluated as  imperial cemetery conserved intact with the most emperors buried in the world? by selection and evaluation committee of  World Top on Beijing Tourism in 1992.It was evaluated as AAAA scenic spot by National Tourism Administration in 2001. The Ming Tombs was inscribed into the catalogue of World Heritage in the 27th session of World Heritage Organization of UNESCO on July 3rd, 2003.