Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Ming Xiaoling (Purple Mountain)

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Ming Xiaoling, Part Of The Imperial Tombs Of The Ming And Qing Dynasties, 2003); Zhongshan Scenic Area, National 5A Tourist Attraction · Nanjing, Jiangsu

The forested slopes of Purple Mountain on the eastern edge of Nanjing hold two of the most important tombs in Chinese history. The Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, completed in 1929 for the revolutionary who ended two thousand years of imperial rule and founded the Republic of China, climbs the hillside in a grand white-granite stairway of 392 steps to a blue-tiled memorial hall with a seated statue of Sun and his tomb chamber beyond; the gate bears his motto that the world belongs to all, and he is honoured on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Nearby, the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of the Hongwu Emperor, the peasant rebel who founded the Ming dynasty in 1368, built from 1381 as the model for later imperial tombs and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its Sacred Way curves through the woods between pairs of stone lions, camels, elephants, horses and mythical beasts, especially beautiful under autumn leaves. The wider scenic area adds the Linggu Temple and its memorial pagoda, the Ming-era brick Beamless Hall, the Music Stage and Meiling Palace, the villa of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, famously ringed by plane trees that look like a necklace from above.

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Zhongshan Scenic Area, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Tuesday-Sunday 8:30-17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed Mondays except public holidays; reservation required. Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple and Meiling Palace open daily, roughly 7:30-18:00.

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