Zunhua

Zunhua is a county-level city in the Tangshan prefecture of Hebei in China.

Understand

You are probably in this city to visit the Eastern Qing Tombs, a beautiful site that, although not too far from Beijing, can be a hassle for tourists, especially international ones, to reach. The lack of a high-speed rail connection to Zunhua and the difficulty in navigating long-distance buses from Beijing without knowledge of Chinese can be challenging. However, if you manage to get here, you'll be rewarded with a historically significant site that is often not crowded. You might even find yourself descending into the tomb of the Qianlong Emperor and being the only one in the entire cavernous tomb.

There are three Manchu ethnic townships in Zunhua, including Dongling Manchu Ethnic Township. This community is descended from the Manchu tomb keepers who originally guarded the tombs. Located within the area of the Eastern Qing Tombs, they now serve as tour guides.

Get in

By train

The city is not served by high speed rail.

By bus

There are long-distance buses from Beijing to Zunhua. The morning buses depart from Sihui Long Distance Bus Station in Chaoyang District at 7:05 AM and 8:05 AM. The journey takes approximately 2.5 hours and costs RMB 66. The bus makes a stop at the entrance of the Eastern Qing Tombs, which is about 2 hours from Beijing. If you want to return to Beijing from the Eastern Qing Tombs by bus, you need to walk approximately 1.5 km down the road from the entrance to reach the bus station.

Get around

You can easily call a cab using a hailing app from the Eastern Qing Tombs to the city center of Zunhua, which is about 23 km away. While there are buses from Zunhua city center to Tangshan, they are infrequent. It is better to take a shared taxi, which costs about RMB 40 per passenger.

See

Imperial tombs

• 1 Eastern Qing Tombs (清东陵), Qingdongling Branch Road, Liupanying Village (六盘营村清东陵支线) (see the directions in the Get-in section), ☏ +86 315 6940888, qingdongling@sina.com. 08:30-17:00, no tickets sold after 16:30. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties". Five Qing Emperors are buried here, including the Shunzhi Emperor, the first Qing emperor to conquer all of China, the Kangxi Emperor, the longest reigning emperor in Chinese history, regarded by many to be the greatest of the Qing emperors, and the Qianlong emperor, China's longest living emperor who also ruled over a period of prosperity. Another notably burial here was that of Empress Dowager Cixi, who reduced emperors to a puppet roles while she held the actual power in the last days of the Qing Dynasty. Most of the tombs except the Shunzhi Emperor's tomb were looted amid the turmoil following the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and four of them have their burial chambers open to the public; the tomb of the Qianlong Emperor, the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, and two tombs of the Qianlong Emperor's concubines. The tomb of the Qianlong Emperor in particular is known for the intricate Buddhist carvings on the walls of its burial chamber. The main Sacred Way leading to the Shunzhi Emperor's tomb is the longest one in China, measuring over 6 km in length. ¥150 (entrance and shuttle). (updated May 2024)
• 2 Wanfo Garden (万佛园, Garden of Ten Thousand Buddhas) (about 3 km by road from the Eastern Qing Tombs; a free shuttle bus operates between the tombs and the garden but must be booked in advance), ☏ +86 315 6948585, toll-free: +86 4000899888, gongmu@sina.com. 08:30-16:00. Compared to the Eastern Qing Tombs, the Wanfo Garden is a fairly modern place, having been established in 1993. But the garden utilizes traditional Qing designs in order to maintain a certain synchronicity with the tombs. Standard adult tickets are ¥50, adults aged 60 to 69 pay ¥25, adults over 70 and children under 1.2 meters enjoy free admission. (updated May 2024)