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Don’t be fooled because what you see below isn’t all there is to Ming Xiao Ling. There’s an entire Sacred Way leading up to the Outer Wall you see below. If you want to know more about why this place is a gem, check out it’s background here. Otherwise, read on…

The picture above is the outer wall of the tomb. The brick-paved walkway up to the outer wall entrance is lined with cedar trees, and has a surreal feeling about it.

Walk up closer to the main entrance. You’ll realize that it’s not the only gate, although it’s the only gate presently open to public. In fact, there are five gates in all, that’s why it’s also called the Wen Wu Men 文五门 [wen1wu3men2].

Oh, one little aside: if you do not enter Ming Xiaoling here, you can turn right just before the walled entrance, and then turn left, following a path along the wall. This will bring you to a very beautiful Zixia Lake a.k.a. Purple Cloud Lake. For those coming from Zixia Lake, you’ll be coming in from the right side of the picture above.

Past the Outer Gate:

If you pass through the outer wall entrance, the next thing you’ll see is the Stele Pavilion 碑殿 [bei1dian4]. 碑 [bei1] is a stone tablet erected as memorial with characters or pictures carved on it. Also known as “Stele.” The stele is circled orange in the picture below. The part circled in blue is a plaque that says in six foreign languages, “you’d better preserve the tomb,” which may explain why the tomb has not been excavated till now…

Now, just keep walking straight past the Stele Pavillion, and you arrive at the Sacrificial Hall 孝陵殿 [xiao4ling2dian4]. What’s left is the red house here that is a museum of sorts. Inside you’ll get to see the stoy of Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor who’s tomb you’re now in. Here’s a side-angle shot of the house.

And these are the remains of the Sacrificial hall upon which the museum now sits on…

Notice all the stumps of past pillars littered across the base of the sacrificial hall…

Past the Inner Gate:

Now, if you keep walking on, you’ll see the Inner Wall. It’s red and has only one gate. Just walk past it and be presented with a tree-lined avenue lined also with educational material on boths sides. Keep walking and the avenue will open up to become a stone bridge called what else but Big Stone Bridge 大石桥 [da4shi2qiao2].
Now look up and admire the large structure in front of you. This is the Ming Tower 明楼 [ming2lou2], which you have to ascend and pass to reach the real burial place. Can you see the little dark entrance at the base of the wall? Enter it and ascend. You’re only a few more steps away from past royalty…

Here’s how the Big Stone Bridge looks from up there…

One last aside on the Ming Tower: What you see is just a re-creation of something more majestic and with a roof. If you notice, the present Ming Tower has no roof, whereas in the past it looked so much more regal…

Past the Ming Tower:

Once you go through the tunneled stairs that brings you closer to the burial mound, most people will make a right and then turn left to proceed towards the mound. If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge, try making a left, after which you can look for the unbeaten path that also leads to the mound. If you go up this way, you’ll really appreciate coming back down using the comfortable path that everyone else takes.

You know when you’re on top of the burial ground when you can’t climb up any further. Below is buried Emperor Hongwu a.k.a. Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming Emperor and his chick Empress Ma.

That’s it.

To exit, you can follow the stone-paved steps in any direction. One of them brings you along the old wall (on the right side of the picture below) that protect this sacred mound. And that’s us going taking the path of the inner wall…

To exit Ming Xiao Ling until the Outer Gate, just retrace your steps. To exit the entire Ming Xiao Ling compound, click here to see how. For an overview the tomb and what it’s actually made up of, click here for background info.