Western Qing Tombs, Hebei, China Week 16 7th August 2011
It seems to be the habit of Emperors the world over to start building their own tombs at the start of their reign. Probably the equivalent of modern funeral insurance.

There are tombs from Qing and Ming Dynasties within 100 km of Beijing.

This is one of the Western Qing Tombs in Shanhaiguan Pass.

This is just the Hall of Enormous Grace (Long'En Hall) on the way into the Tomb. 

This is the underground palace of the Chongling Tomb of the Emperor Guangxu and Empress Longyu.

The last of the tombs, it was built between 1909 and 1915. Robbed in 1938 it was opened to the public in 1980.

The mausoleum is normally sealed and innaccessible. Even so there are 3 sets of stone doors inside.

The roof of the mausoleum is earth.
This is an even bigger Long'En Hall dating from 1730 - 1737.

Its a bit "deja vu ish". Reminiscient of Angkor Wat where the same basic temple design was used but scaled to various sizes.

This was supposedly twice the size of the newer tomb we visited first but we suspect it was more in area than height.

The tomb is for the Emperor Yong Zhen, his Empress Xiaojingyian and Imperial Concubine Dunsu.

There's a walkway from the Long'En Hall. This building is above the entrance to the mausoleum.

In the previous tomb the entrance was through the tunnel and down the stairs. This mausoleum had never been robbed so the tunnel just went through to the other side.

Looking back at the Long'En Hall from the mausoleum.
The roof of the mausoleum was in better condition than the smaller tomb.

Very old cypress trees to hold it all together.

We camped for the night in the car park at the tombs.

Fire and police stations were in the same car park with friendly officers. 

The fire service water tanker had a central engine with belt drive to gearbox attached to differential.
The engine probably didn't need a fuel pump.
Beijing, China Week 16 8th - 11th August 2011

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