Nanjing (2) - Dr Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum

21/05 was our second day in Nanjing and we had only half a day before we moved on to the next city, Suzhou. We focused on Dr. Sun Yat-sen 's Mausoleum (中山陵) as we had very limited time to complete the entire visit by noon, before departure to Suzhou in the afternoon. We took the travel bus early morning to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen 's Mausoleum, which is located at Mount Zijin (Purple Mountain) in Nanjing. As the name implies, it houses the mortal remains for the father of Modern China - Dr Sun Yat-Sen. The construction of the Mausoleum commenced from 1926, after Dr.Sun passed away in 1925. The mausoleum was completed in the spring of 1929 and Dr.Sun was buried here on 1st June 1929

The entry ticket was RMB80, meant for both the Dr. Sun Yat-sen 's Mausoleum and Linggu Temple.

There is a paifang or the memorial archway in the entrance.

The main entrance - The memorial archway

After a long walk on the pathway, we came to the Mausoleum Gate

Long Pathway

The Mausoleum Gate

Immediately after the gate, there is a pavillion houses the memorial tablet which indicates the burial date for Dr. Sun.

Memorial tablet

After a long climb on the 400 stairsteps, we finally reached at the Sacrificial Hall, the resting place of Dr. Sun’s remains.

400 steps of stairways leading to the Sacrificial Hall

A scenic view from the top

As time was running out, we did not stay here for long and we moved on to the next spot. It was quite a long way to Linggu Pagoda.

The Memorial Archway of the Cemetary for the KIAs

The Beamless Hall is the memorial hall of soldiers who lost their lives in the War of Northern Expedition (北伐), a military campaign from 1926 - 1928 to to unify China under the Kuomintang banner by ending the rule of local warlords . More than 30,000 soldiers were enshrined. Linggu Pagoda was built in 1929 as a sign of remembrance for those soldiers.

The Beamless Hall

Linggu Pagoda

We had a short visit to the open-air music hall and concluded our trip here. We have to drop Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall from our plan due to the time constraints.

The Open-air Music Hall