 Eastern Qing Tombs, Hebei Province
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The Eastern Qing Tombs are not located within Beijing itself, but rather in Hebei Province, are the tombs of the Qing Dynasty emperors. Also called the Eastern Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, the tombs are in an even more splendid location than the Ming Tombs, but due to their distance from Beijing, they are much less popular. Together with the Ming Tombs, the Eastern Qing Tombs were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site titled Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The Eastern Qing Tombs are the largest and most complete imperial cemetery in China. It was built on a scale rivalling the Forbidden City. There are many tombs scattered within the complex, but only five belonged to Qing emperors. Four of these, namely the tombs of the Shunzhi emperor (reigned in 1644-61), the Kangxi emperor (r.1661-1722), the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-95) and the Xianfeng emperor (r. 1851-61) are open to the public, while remaining closed is the tomb of the Tongzhi emperor (r. 1862-74).
A three-mile long walkway, called the Spirit Way, lined with guardian figures on either sides, mark the approach to the tomb of the Shunzhi emperor, at the heart of the tomb complex. The other tombs also have their own approaches with smaller Spirit Ways.
The infamous Empress Dowager Cixi was also buried in the Eastern Qing Tombs, at Ding Dong Ling, in the same tomb complex that is also the resting place of Ci'an, the eldest wife of the Xianfeng emperor. Although the tomb of the Xianfeng emperor and his wives were built in 1879, the Empress Dowager had her tomb lavishly remodelled in 1895.
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