Discover Nanjing
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
中山陵
The tomb of the founder of modern China, reached by a 392-step blue-and-white granite stairway up Purple Mountain. Free, monumental, and the single most visited sight in the city.
The story
What makes this place special
The mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen was begun in January 1926 and finished in spring 1929, on Purple Mountain east of the city. It was designed by Lü Yanzhi, who won the competition and died shortly after the work was done; Huang Tanpu acted as his partner and the architect Poy Gum Lee carried the design through to completion. Lü's 1925 plan is shaped like a bell — the burial chamber is the bell's button and the plaza and archway are the hammer — which is why the complex reads as a single diagram from the air. The axis runs about 700 metres horizontally and climbs about 70 metres, up 392 stone steps broken by ten landings.
What you’ll discover
A single straight climb. From the memorial archway you walk a long tree-lined passage to the mausoleum gate, then the stele pavilion, then the main flights of steps to the memorial hall, where a seated marble statue of Sun sits under the three principles carved on the walls; behind it, the domed burial chamber holds a recumbent figure over the vault. The steps are deliberately staged so that looking up you see only steps and looking back you see only terraces. The view from the top over the city and the mountain is the reward for the climb.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- 392 steps, 70 metres of ascent, no lift, no shortcut, no shade on the main flights. That is the whole visit and it is harder than people expect in summer heat.
- Go early. It opens early, the coach parties arrive mid-morning, and the steps become a slow queue of people stopping to photograph each other.
- Free but by advance booking in practice, and the daily allocation runs out at peak season — reserve before you travel out to the mountain.
- Turn round halfway up. The designed view is backwards and down the axis, and almost everyone climbs with their head down and misses it.
- It is one site in a large mountain scenic area with Ming Xiaoling and Linggu Temple; the internal shuttle links them. Doing all three on foot in one day is a very long walk.
When to come
Early morning, and spring or autumn. Late November brings the maples on Purple Mountain; summer afternoons on unshaded stone are punishing.
Getting around
The burial chamber cannot be reached without climbing 392 steps and there is no lift or alternative route — plainly impossible in a wheelchair and very hard on a bad knee. The lower approach, the archway, the passage and the stele pavilion are level and paved and give you the setting and the architecture, and a shuttle serves the lower complex. If someone in your group cannot climb, plan for them to wait at the stele pavilion rather than be left at the gate.
Worth knowing before you go
The 90 CNY combination ticket adds Ming Xiaoling and Linggu Temple; the mausoleum itself stays free but still needs the booking.
Book ahead
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Tickets open 7 days before the visit, and the sell-out risk is medium.
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