Which Ming Tomb, and Can It Share a Day With the Wall?
Choose the Ming Tomb that matches what you want to see, and decide whether pairing it with the Great Wall is realistic. The valley is spread out, so a bad combination turns a sightseeing day into a transport day.
The short answer
Buy at the gate: the city's English ticketing page says no reservation is required and the adult ticket carries no ID clause — bring the physical passport anyway, since in practice the valley sells real-name tickets. Do not rely on the online mini-program; we could not read its rules from abroad.
One tomb plus the road: Dingling, and the Sacred Way if you came by bus (Chang 67 to Dagongmen, walk, 879 on to Dingling) or Changling if you came by car (3 km). Not all three on public transport — Dingling alone is a half-day that way.
Dingling's underground palace is long stairs down and up with no lift mentioned on any page — ask at the gate if steps are a problem; the Sacred Way is flat but a kilometre each way in full sun; Changling is a hall and a courtyard. Under-6s and over-60s enter free on valid ID (bureau page; which documents count is not stated). At Badaling, under-18s and over-60s with Chinese ID go free and 'foreign nationals follow the same categories' — bring the passport to claim it.
You do not need one for the three open sites — tickets are at the gate. What you cannot walk into are the newest tombs, Yongling and Siling (guided-only, ¥299 / ¥199, ten people a slot, via the '昌平文旅集团' mini-program) and Kangling (reservation required) — leave them out.
We have no crowd figures for the tombs; Changling is the 'quieter cousin'. The crowd on this day is at the wall: be at Badaling for the 6:30 gate or after 15:00, never on a public holiday, and let the tombs take the afternoon.
By car: Badaling at the 6:30 opening, Juyongguan on the way down the G6 if you have 90 minutes, then Dingling and Changling — valley ticket sales end 17:30 in the current season (seasons differ). By bus: no — Dingling is a half-day on its own, and nothing in our entries connects the wall to the valley.
Say Dagongmen before you leave the city, or the Sacred Way gets skipped; say Dingling, or 'the underground palace' gets pointed at the wrong tomb; and remember our Badaling warning: cheap day tours deliver you to Shuiguan, 3 km down the same road with its own ticket.
Side by sideEach cell ends with the date of the notice it was checked against
Swipe sideways; the first column stays put
Dingling
定陵Open the place →- Getting there
- 50 km out (our own figure). Bus 872 from Deshengmen runs direct into the valley; or metro Changping Line to the terminus Nanshao, bus Chang 67 to Dagongmen for the Sacred Way, then bus 879 on to Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network route); the bureau page's other route is Nanshao → Chang 1 / 22 to Changping Dongguan → bus 314 · 2026-09-11
- Ticket (current season)
- Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥60, half ¥30 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥40; gate ticket only, each scenic area priced separately — we found no combined ticket · 2025-06-08
- Booking & passport
- Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06
- How long
- A half-day on its own by public transport (our own words); the underground palace means long stairs down and up, with no lift mentioned on any page; the museum on the surface holds the Wanli crown and the phoenix crowns · 2026-09-11
- Between the sites
- Changling is 3 km east; the Sacred Way, Dingling and Changling are 3-7 km apart. Bus 879 links the Sacred Way (Dagongmen), Dingling and Changling on the Beijing Tourism Network route; by car it is minutes · 2026-09-11
- Crowds
- Not checked — we have no crowd figure · 2026-09-11
- What you see
- The only excavated Ming tomb (1956-58): five stone chambers 27 m down, empty thrones, replica coffins — the originals were destroyed in 1966 — and the finds in the museum above. Come for the scale of the vault and the museum, not for treasure in situ · 2026-09-11
- Best for
- The one tomb if you only do one; anyone who wants to go underground; the first-timer with a passport and no phone
Changling
长陵Open the place →- Getting there
- Bus 872 from Deshengmen runs direct into the valley; bus 879 links the Sacred Way (Dagongmen), Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network routes); the bureau page's metro route is Changping Line to Nanshao → Chang 1 / 22 to Changping Dongguan → bus 314 · 2026-09-11
- Ticket (current season)
- Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥45 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥30; gate ticket only; we found no combined ticket · 2025-06-08
- Booking & passport
- Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06
- How long
- Worth 40 minutes, not a day (our own words) — one great hall and a mound you cannot enter; pair it with Dingling 3 km away rather than doing it alone · 2026-09-11
- Between the sites
- 3 km east of Dingling, at the head of the valley facing the Sacred Way; bus 879 on the Beijing Tourism Network route · 2026-09-11
- Crowds
- Not checked as a figure; we call the Ling'en Hall 'a smaller, older, quieter cousin' of the Hall of Supreme Harmony · 2026-09-11
- What you see
- The founder's tomb and the biggest, unexcavated: the Ling'en Hall (1427) — 60 single-trunk nanmu columns, the four central ones over 1 m across, the largest surviving nanmu hall in China and the only Ming hall in the valley with its original timber frame — then the mound. The ceremonial front, not a vault · 2026-09-11
- Best for
- Timber-building people; the second tomb on a car day; not the one to pick alone
Sacred Way
神路Open the place →- Getting there
- Bus Chang 67 from Nanshao (Changping Line terminus) stops at Dagongmen — the Great Red Gate at the start of the road; walk the avenue, then bus 879 on to Dingling and Changling. Drivers skip it because there is nowhere obvious to stop · 2026-09-11
- Ticket (current season)
- Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥30 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥20 — the cheapest ticket in the valley (the city's English page of 2024-07-19 still lists 20 / 15, see notes); the 1540 stone gateway at the very start is outside the ticketed avenue and free from the road · 2025-06-08
- Booking & passport
- Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06
- How long
- A flat walk of roughly a kilometre each way, in full sun with no shade · 2026-09-11
- Between the sites
- The start of the valley: from its end, bus 879 from Dagongmen runs on to Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network route); the road was laid for Changling in 1435 and every later tomb borrowed it · 2026-09-11
- Crowds
- Not checked as a figure; the most photographed part of the valley · 2026-09-11
- What you see
- 36 stone figures of 1435 — 24 animals and 12 officials, lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin and horses in kneeling and standing pairs, then generals and civil officials, a court procession frozen in stone — from the Great Red Gate and the stele pavilion to the Dragon-and-Phoenix Gate · 2026-09-11
- Best for
- Bus visitors, first thing; the photograph; skip it in July heat or on a day you have already walked the palace axis
| Compare | Dingling | Changling | Sacred Way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting there | 50 km out (our own figure). Bus 872 from Deshengmen runs direct into the valley; or metro Changping Line to the terminus Nanshao, bus Chang 67 to Dagongmen for the Sacred Way, then bus 879 on to Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network route); the bureau page's other route is Nanshao → Chang 1 / 22 to Changping Dongguan → bus 314 · 2026-09-11 | Bus 872 from Deshengmen runs direct into the valley; bus 879 links the Sacred Way (Dagongmen), Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network routes); the bureau page's metro route is Changping Line to Nanshao → Chang 1 / 22 to Changping Dongguan → bus 314 · 2026-09-11 | Bus Chang 67 from Nanshao (Changping Line terminus) stops at Dagongmen — the Great Red Gate at the start of the road; walk the avenue, then bus 879 on to Dingling and Changling. Drivers skip it because there is nowhere obvious to stop · 2026-09-11 |
| Ticket (current season) | Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥60, half ¥30 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥40; gate ticket only, each scenic area priced separately — we found no combined ticket · 2025-06-08 | Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥45 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥30; gate ticket only; we found no combined ticket · 2025-06-08 | Current season (Apr-Oct) ¥30 — seasons differ, Nov-Mar ¥20 — the cheapest ticket in the valley (the city's English page of 2024-07-19 still lists 20 / 15, see notes); the 1540 stone gateway at the very start is outside the ticketed avenue and free from the road · 2025-06-08 |
| Booking & passport | Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06 | Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06 | Ticket at the gate — the municipal English ticketing page says 'No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site' (2024-07-19); online via the '昌平文旅集团' WeChat mini-program and '明十三陵景区' channels (media report Dec 2024; the official site is unreachable from abroad, so online rules are unconfirmed). Passport: nothing official found — adult tickets carry no ID clause on the bureau page, and free-entry groups show ID; in practice the valley sells real-name tickets, so bring the physical passport · 2024-12-06 |
| How long | A half-day on its own by public transport (our own words); the underground palace means long stairs down and up, with no lift mentioned on any page; the museum on the surface holds the Wanli crown and the phoenix crowns · 2026-09-11 | Worth 40 minutes, not a day (our own words) — one great hall and a mound you cannot enter; pair it with Dingling 3 km away rather than doing it alone · 2026-09-11 | A flat walk of roughly a kilometre each way, in full sun with no shade · 2026-09-11 |
| Between the sites | Changling is 3 km east; the Sacred Way, Dingling and Changling are 3-7 km apart. Bus 879 links the Sacred Way (Dagongmen), Dingling and Changling on the Beijing Tourism Network route; by car it is minutes · 2026-09-11 | 3 km east of Dingling, at the head of the valley facing the Sacred Way; bus 879 on the Beijing Tourism Network route · 2026-09-11 | The start of the valley: from its end, bus 879 from Dagongmen runs on to Dingling and Changling (Beijing Tourism Network route); the road was laid for Changling in 1435 and every later tomb borrowed it · 2026-09-11 |
| Crowds | Not checked — we have no crowd figure · 2026-09-11 | Not checked as a figure; we call the Ling'en Hall 'a smaller, older, quieter cousin' of the Hall of Supreme Harmony · 2026-09-11 | Not checked as a figure; the most photographed part of the valley · 2026-09-11 |
| What you see | The only excavated Ming tomb (1956-58): five stone chambers 27 m down, empty thrones, replica coffins — the originals were destroyed in 1966 — and the finds in the museum above. Come for the scale of the vault and the museum, not for treasure in situ · 2026-09-11 | The founder's tomb and the biggest, unexcavated: the Ling'en Hall (1427) — 60 single-trunk nanmu columns, the four central ones over 1 m across, the largest surviving nanmu hall in China and the only Ming hall in the valley with its original timber frame — then the mound. The ceremonial front, not a vault · 2026-09-11 | 36 stone figures of 1435 — 24 animals and 12 officials, lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin and horses in kneeling and standing pairs, then generals and civil officials, a court procession frozen in stone — from the Great Red Gate and the stele pavilion to the Dragon-and-Phoenix Gate · 2026-09-11 |
| Best for | The one tomb if you only do one; anyone who wants to go underground; the first-timer with a passport and no phone | Timber-building people; the second tomb on a car day; not the one to pick alone | Bus visitors, first thing; the photograph; skip it in July heat or on a day you have already walked the palace axis |
Badaling Great Wall：Same day by car only: Badaling is worth it early — the peak-season gate opens 6:30 and the first two hours are the wall you came for, the north climb empties again only after 15:00 — while valley ticket sales run to 17:30 in the current season, so wall at opening, tombs after; drivers doing Badaling + Ming Tombs pass Juyongguan on the G6. Which section, the two booking channels, the Trip.com button and the Shuiguan 'day tour' trap: see the Great Wall lens. car days; by bus our entries describe no link between the wall and the valley, and Dingling alone is a half-day — do not plan the pair on public transport; the wall ticket is its own (¥40 current season, real-name '长城内外' booking or at the gate).
Juyongguan Great Wall：On the way: 10 minutes below Badaling on the G6, so drivers doing Badaling + Ming Tombs pass the gate and can add it for the price of a ticket (¥40 or ¥45 — two listings disagree, budget the higher) — 90 minutes, a steep exposed stair climb, and the Cloud Platform's six-script sutras standing in the road. car days only — not worth a dedicated bus trip; the wall museum inside closes Mondays; hours and prices here are platform listings, not the site's own — see the Great Wall lens.
One by one
Dingling
定陵The tomb that justifies the trip: the vault is bare stone and the coffins are replicas, but nothing else in the valley takes you 27 m under a Ming emperor's mound, and the crown and phoenix crowns are upstairs. Do not expect treasure in place — the 1956-58 dig went badly enough that no other Ming or Qing imperial tomb has been opened since. Do not come by public transport expecting to add the other two sites: Dingling is a half-day on its own that way, and the stairs down and up have no lift. Against Changling: this is the underground, that is the hall — by car do both, by bus pick this one and the Sacred Way. The 'underground palace' signs anywhere in the valley mean here. For first-timers doing one tomb; anyone who wants the underground rather than the architecture; car days pairing it with Changling.
Open the place →Changling
长陵The hall, not the vault: 60 nanmu trunks under a 1420s ceiling, the finest Ming timber building outside the palace — and nothing else, because Changling is unexcavated and the mound is closed. Do not do it alone, and do not do it after a morning at the Hall of Supreme Harmony expecting more: the Ling'en Hall is a smaller, older, quieter cousin, worth 40 minutes. It earns its ticket on a car day as the second stop after Dingling (3 km); on buses it is the one to drop. The trap is the signage: 'underground palace' in the valley never means here. For car days after Dingling; anyone who wants the largest nanmu hall in China and 40 quiet minutes.
Open the place →Sacred Way
神路A flat walk past statues, not a building — and the most photographed part of the valley. Do it first if you come by bus, because Chang 67 drops you at its start and 879 carries on from there; do not do it in July heat or after a morning on the Forbidden City's axis, since it is a kilometre each way in full sun with no shade. The trap is the car: drivers skip it because there is nowhere obvious to stop, so if you want the stone figures ask for Dagongmen before you leave the city. The stone gateway at the very start is free from the road; the ticket is for the avenue. For the bus morning before Dingling; photographers; anyone who wants the cheapest ticket in the valley.
Open the place →