Tomb of Emperor Jingdi (Hanyangling), Shaanxi, China

4ceetom1 5:00 PM Jan 9, 2020

Interesting place to visit
Came here after visiting the terracotta warriors site. The entire site is located underground with many of the relics dating back hundreds of years. For this who have an appreciation for historical artifacts, this is a good place to visit together with the warriors site. Some of the areas could have been better lit up for visibility but still a worth a visit.

4Timothy R 5:00 PM Jun 8, 2018

Came back to Xi'an to see this as we ran ouit of time before
Getting there, Number 4 bus from outside exit D at station Shitushuguan station on the metro line 2. Cost 2 Rmb, travel time 40 minutes. This bus is dedicated to this run and these two points are the terminal ends of the run. This is one run you really do not want to go by taxi, there are toll roads/bridges and the costs can get nasty. Particularly when there is a trans-lingual argument about who is paying for what. Put simply, it's not worth the pain, take the bus. Times 7 days a week are:- Outbound: 8:30, 10:20, 12:00 13:40, 15:20, 17:00 Return: 9:30, 11:10, 12:50 14:30 16:10 18:00 It's one bus, same driver, he has rest breaks at both ends which is a good idea. The bus leaves on time. Miss the 18:00 and you might find a taxi but it's doubtful!!!!! The times are posted at the bus stop at the site, but not at the metro station end. Having arrived, there is a big board outside that has an up to date map of the layout of the place. On one side in English on the other Chinese. Take a photo, as the map on the back of the ticket is missing some roads/paths. The tickets are 80Rmb each, no apparent half price for age or students. Once you get your ticket head for the underground section first. Which is up the square, first right and follow your nose. If your expecting bright lights and clear picture opportunities like the terracotta warriors think again, the lighting is subdued to say the least and flash is strictly forbidden which is enforced actively. Given the amount of glass a flash is like a beacon for every security guard. The glass is also a nightmare with reflections and focusing for photographs, However it is fascinating to see the dig trenches etc. As you exit the dark, there is a small cinema, it shows a 20 minute docu-drama with a narrator. The show seems to run every hour, but I guess this increases when busy. The cost is 10Rmb and you can get translation headphones for English, French and German. Be aware that the film will still give audio in Chinese, so you may well spend some time pressing the earphones to your ears. But it's worth while to get the background story etc... Don't give up, there are a couple of hidden gems to walk to. Once you exit the building you are located at one of the corners of the square based pyramid mound of the emperors mausoleum. Take the right path and go round the mound until you see the South Gate. It looks like a badly maintained 2000's mock Chinese gate. It is, but inside are the remains of the original gate and a lot of interesting explanations and pictures of the site and other similar places. Exit the south gate building as if you had walked straight through and walk down the road under the current main traffic road, keep going for about 150 metres and there is a cross roads. To your left is a road with a off yellow surface colour. Take this road and walk towards to site is the distance, ( 300 M). This is the 'Plentius' or something like that, it's covered in again at the moment but in it's day was very significant. There are some sheltered areas and diagrammatic explanations, unfortunately English hasn't made it out to this structure. With your backs to the shelters take the path opposite, across the 'Plentius', basically as if you turn left when you arrived. The path meets a road as a T junction turn right. After a 90 degree right bend take the left turn. Move to the left, off the road and onto the path, (it's cooler in the shade). To your left are a series of rose gardens covering various pits that have been/are going to be excavated. At the end of the path there is a collection of building to the right. One of these is the museum. It's well lighted, well laid out, cover 2 floors, ( ground and basement), this is where you will get those pictures you wanted. As you leave the museum, opposite is two further buildings with temporary exhibitions. When we were there one covered the earliest discovered tea, found in these digs. The other was a collection of world wide photographs by a famous Chinese photographer. Thy were impressive to say the least. Once you have seen all you want, follow the road out towards a second ticket office and a manned security barrier, ( directly towards the empresses tomb in the distance). Go past the barrier into the car park area and turn left. At the other end of the car park are 2 roads follow the right hand one, ( warning there's no footpath), is weaves unto the main traffic road and brings you out on the road back to the bus stop. Turn left and walk the 300 metres to the stop. If you have the time and energy you can divert and walk to the empresses tomb. From a distance there is a path to the top, but I do not know if you can still access this, I assume there is a path round the base, but again I don't know for sure.