Shanghaied to China: Tomb of the (Ming) Emperor

The Ming Tombs consisted of a large area and several tombs for about 13 of the Ming emperors. We went to the Dingling tombs because they were the best excavated ones.

Entering the Ming Tombs:

You can tell people are in tours based on their caps - I've seen yellow, red, and orange caps floating around Beijing...

Sacrificial vessels outside the tomb

Forgot what this column was for or called...but it was the only statue there...

People threw money at these graves. The left pic is of a coffin, and the right pic is of the burial chambers. They look nice because they were replaced. Archaeologists found them in a decayed state, and so they replaced them all. The walls are also renovated, thus losing the old rocks that gave it a more authentic feeling.

The emperor's throne

The empress' throne

SUN! ESCAPE FROM MING TOMBS!

We dwarf the elephants...

So we didn't want to take another 2.5 hour ride by public transportation back to the city, and Guo XJ tried to bargain with this lady to bring us all back. And by the way, we're a group of nine full-sized Americans ok?

Here is the lady...and here is her van, which is supposed to seat NINE people. (Four in the back, and four in the middle, with one in the front passenger seat)