Zhaoling Tomb, the tomb of Hongtaiji and his wife, Xiaoduanwen Queen, is a Key Cultural Relic Unit under State Protection.
Zhaoling Tomb, also called North Tomb due to its location in the north of Shenyang, enjoys equal fame with Fu Tomb and Yong Tomb. All these tombs are jointly called three imperial tombs outside Shanhaiguan. However, Zhaoling Tomb is much beyond the other two in terms of scale and layout.
Zhaoling Tomb is the largest park in Shenyang City, covering an area of 330 hectares. In the eighth year of Chongde in Qing Dynasty, the tomb of Huangtaiji and his wife Bo'erjijite was completed. In 1927, Zhaoling Tomb was authorized to be a park by Fengtian government, and got the name of North Tomb. As one of tourist attractions and historic sites in Shenyang, Zhaoling Tomb is the essence of China's ancient architectures, and also the representative of cultural communication between Manchus and Han nationalities. There are decorated archways, ornamental columns, cloud pillars and some stones animals, such as standing elephant, standing horse, sleeping camel, kylin, sitting lion and Xiezhi (the mythical Chinese beast) on both sides of the road, face to face with each other. Square City is the main part of the park, and the layout is similar to that of Fu Tomb. Under the Bao City is the underground palace, the coffin chamber of Huangtaiji and his queen.
Zhaoling Tomb is spacious and bright with splendour pavilions and palaces. The yellow tiles, red walls and green trees set each other off. After liberation, North Tomb has been greatly restored and expanded so it combines traditional ancient architecture with modern park features. When stay in the park, recalling the past you will have all sorts of feelings welled up in the mind. It is a place one must visit when go to Shenyang.
