Nanjing Day 2

On the second day in Nanjing we went to the Ming Xiaoling Tomb. The Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his wife. The Ming dynasty began in 1368. We had expected it to be an area like Fuzi Temple, but it ended up being this massive park area that took hours to cover. There were also other tombs in the area but we didn't have the time to explore them. When we arrived at the Ming Xiaoling Tomb we were planning on catching the 4:30pm bus back home, but had to take the 7:00pm bus.

Here is Josh standing on Stone Elephant Road, which is the first section of the Sacred Way. On this road there are six kinds of stone animals (elepants, lions, xiezhi, camels, unicorns and horses), where each animal is first shown standing and then sitting. The symbolism behind the stone animals is that they guard the tomb against evil spirits and they show ritual customs.

The red building at the end of the road is the first gate to the grave yard of the Ming Tomb.

This the the third entrance, which is really amazing. It is called the Inner Red Gate and is believed that passing this gate means stepping into the netherworld (the world of the dead). Ooooooooh!

Here is me and Josh posing outside the sacrificial hall.

This the Ming Tower, which is the commanding point among all buildings of the Ming Tomb. We took the stairs and this steep flat area to get the top. It was all worth it though when we saw the view at the top.

This is me on top of the Ming Tower. Don't let the smile fool you I was absolutely terrified of sitting there. There is a picture of the look down, which you will all get to see when we get back. For someone who is scared of heights I was really proud of myself. Josh only sat on the corner...lol.