Which Ming Tombs can foreign visitors visit now?
Eight areas are open: seven tombs and the Sacred Way (神路). Four are regular ticketed areas. The other four need an online booking and a guide. The official pages say "the public" and "visitors". They do not split visitors by nationality.
This is the list in the Beijing government's English news item of December 24, 2025. A Chinese Beijing government page of December 21, 2025 gives the same split.
- Regular areas: Changling (长陵), Dingling (定陵), Zhaoling (昭陵) and the Sacred Way (神路).
- Booking first: Kangling (康陵), Yongling (永陵), Siling (思陵) and Jingling (景陵).
Jingling opened on December 22, 2025. Yongling and Siling first opened in early December 2024: one English page says both have been open since December 5, and a Beijing Youth Daily report of December 6, 2024 says Siling from December 5 and Yongling from December 6 at the earliest. The 2025 news item says more than half of the main tombs are now accessible, and projects all the major imperial tombs open by 2030.
One old sentence to ignore
The Beijing government's English attractions page (no date shown) says "At present, only Changling, Dingling, Zhaoling and Shenlu are open". The same wording appears on a page dated July 19, 2024. The December 2025 news item lists eight areas, so use that list.
Ming Tombs ticket prices: peak season and off season
The tourism board's attraction page (no date shown) and its article of June 8, 2025 set the peak season at April 1 to October 31 and the off season at November 1 to March 31. The Beijing government English page does not give the season dates. All figures below are per adult unless the column says half price. Each area has its own price on these pages, and none mentions a combined ticket.
| Area | Tourism board, peak / off | Government English page, peak / off | English page, half price, peak / off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Changling | ¥45 / ¥30 | ¥45 / ¥30 | ¥22 / ¥15 |
| Dingling | ¥60 / ¥40 | ¥60 / no off-season price given | ¥30 / not given |
| Zhaoling | ¥30 / ¥20 | ¥30 / ¥20 | ¥15 / ¥10 |
| Sacred Way | ¥30 / ¥20 | ¥20 / ¥15 | ¥10 / ¥7.5 |
The Sacred Way price is not settled. The tourism board attraction page and its June 8, 2025 article say ¥30 peak and ¥20 off season. The Beijing government English page says ¥20 and ¥15, and it prints the same four figures again for a separate entry called "Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest Scenic Area". A third page, the tourism board's own Sacred Way page (no date shown), says ¥35. Ask at the ticket window.
Half-price and free tickets
The Beijing government English page gives half price to full-time students of undergraduate level and below, aged over 6 up to and including 25 (adult education excluded). Free entry is for people over 60 with valid ID, children 6 or under or 1.2 m or under, and disabled people with valid ID. The page does not say which ID a foreign student or senior must show, or whether a passport counts.
The tourism board attraction page lists free entry for children under 6 and people 60 and over with valid documents, serving soldiers and fire-rescue personnel with valid documents, and disabled people with a valid disability certificate or military disability certificate. Serving soldiers must apply at the on-site window; a military support card does not count as valid ID. It says the price policy covers the entrance ticket only, not paid extras inside the park or in-park vehicles.
Prices for the four booking tombs
The Beijing government's December 2025 news pages and the tourism board's Ming Tombs attraction page and June 8, 2025 article give no price for Kangling or Jingling. For the guided visits at launch in December 2024, a Beijing Evening News report gives ¥299 per person for Yongling and ¥199 per person for Siling, with at most 10 people per tomb per time slot. Treat those as 2024 launch figures and read the current fee on the booking channel before you pay.
Ming Tombs opening hours
Three official pages give three different answers. The June 8, 2025 article gives one set of hours for January 1 to December 31, Monday to Sunday.
| Page | Peak season | Off season |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing government, English attractions page (no date shown; same text on a page dated July 19, 2024) | 8:30-17:30 | 8:30-16:30 |
| Tourism board attraction page (no date shown) | 8:00-17:30 (April 1 to October 31) | 8:30-17:00 (November 1 to March 31) |
| Tourism board article, June 8, 2025 | 08:30-18:00 | 08:30-18:00 |
The tourism board's Sacred Way page (no date shown) repeats the 8:00-17:30 and 8:30-17:00 hours. None of the pages says whether these times are closing time or last entry. The Beijing government's December 2025 news pages give no opening hours for the four booking tombs. We'd plan to arrive well before 16:30 and confirm the hours on the day: the tourism board attraction page lists 010-60761005 as the contact number.
Do you need to book Ming Tombs tickets in advance?
For Changling, Dingling, Zhaoling and the Sacred Way, the attractions page says no. The Beijing government English page (no date shown) says "No reservation required, tickets can be purchased on-site." The December 2025 news items call these four "regular" areas and the other four "booking first". None of the pages mentions real-name reservation for the four regular areas.
For Kangling, Yongling, Siling and Jingling, you book online first.
- Open the Douyin account ‘Ming Tombs Scenic Area’ (明十三陵景区) or the WeChat mini-program of Changping Cultural Tourism Group (昌平文旅集团). These are the only two channels named.
- Book a guided visit. What you book is the guide service, and every visitor goes round with a guide assigned by the scenic area.
- Expect a small group cap. At launch in December 2024 each of Yongling and Siling took at most 10 people per time slot.
The Beijing government's December 2025 news pages and the December 2024 reports on Yongling and Siling do not say how far ahead bookings open, how long a guided visit lasts, or whether cancelled bookings are refunded. A Beijing Youth Daily report of December 6, 2024 says Yongling and Siling would move to regular reception step by step, depending on bookings and restoration work.
Can you buy Ming Tombs tickets with a foreign passport?
The official pages do not say. The Beijing government's December 2025 news pages, its English Ming Tombs attraction page and the tourism board's Ming Tombs attraction page do not specify passport acceptance, ticket-buying ID requirements for foreign visitors, or whether foreign visitors can use the Douyin account or the WeChat mini-program. We can't tell you yes or no from them.
What the pages do describe: for the four regular areas, buying on site; for the four booking tombs, the two online channels above.
How to get to the Ming Tombs by public transport
The Ming Tombs are in Shisanling Town, Changping District, northwest of central Beijing. The official pages have no scenic-area timetable. The Beijing tourism board lists the routes below on three different pages. These pages list different routes and give no departure times or fares. Check the route in a map app before you go.
Tourism board attraction page (no date shown)
- Bus 872 from Deshengmen (德胜门) goes direct to the Ming Tombs.
- Or take Line 13 to Xierqi (西二旗), the Changping line to the last stop Nanshao (南邵), Changping bus 1 or 22 to Changping Dongguan (昌平东关), then bus 314.
- Or take the 345 branch, bus 886 or 888 from Deshengmen to the Changping Dongguan terminal, then bus 314.
Tourism board article, June 8, 2025
- Bus 872 from Deshengmen goes direct.
- From Deshengmen West (德胜门西), take express 345 to Xihuan Nanlu (西环南路) and change to bus 872, 878 or Chang 67 (昌67路).
- Bus 879 from Juyongguan (居庸关).
- Changping line subway to Changping Xishankou (昌平西山口) station, about 2 km on foot, then a scenic-area shuttle to the sights.
Tourism board Sacred Way page (no date shown)
- From Deshengmen West, take the 345 branch to Changping Tiwei (昌平体委) and change to Chang 22.
- Or take the 345 branch or the 919 branch-1 express to Changping Dongguan and change to bus 314, getting off at Nanxincun (南新村).
The tourism board lists bus 872 from Deshengmen as a direct route to the Ming Tombs. If you would rather not work out buses, we can arrange a private car to get you there: message us with your dates for a quote. That is transport only, not tickets. For the wider trip, see our Beijing travel guide.
Ming Tombs in half a day: which tombs to visit
The June 8, 2025 tourism board article says half a day is enough for selected key tombs if time is short and a full day if you have time. The attraction page suggests 3 hours; the Sacred Way page suggests half a day. The article's route covers the four regular areas:
- Sacred Way. The first sight: a stone archway, the Great Red Gate (大红门), a stele pavilion and stone figures along the road.
- Dingling. The article calls it the only excavated tomb in the complex, with an underground palace that visitors can see.
- Zhaoling. The first tomb in the complex to be restored on a large scale.
- Changling. The largest tomb, and the one the article saves for last.
The four booking tombs are separate guided visits. The English attractions page says the tombs lie between 0.5 km and 8 km apart and that Siling sits in the south-west corner. It gives no travel times between them. We'd do the four regular areas first and add a booking tomb only if you can get a slot.
