China Guide
Jiangsu and Zhejiang
Zhongshan Ling
Opening time: Daily 6.30am–6.30pm
Price: ¥40
Address: On Zijin Shan (bus #9 from Xinjiekou)
Dr Sun Yatsen, the first president of post-imperial China, is the only hero revered by Chinese jointly on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. The former leader's mausoleum, the Zhongshan Ling, with its famous marble stairway soaring up the hillside, is one of the most popular sites in the country for Chinese tourists. Walking up the steps is worth it for the great views back down the stairs and across the misty hills to the south.
An imposing structure of white granite and blue tiles (the Nationalist colours), set off by the green pine trees, the mausoleum was completed in 1929, four years after Sun Yatsen's death. From the large bronze statue at the bottom, 392 marble steps lead up to the Memorial Hall, dominated by a five-metre-tall seated white marble figure of the great man himself. Beyond the marble figure is the burial chamber with another marble effigy lying on the stone coffin, from where, according to unsubstantiated rumours, the bones were removed to Taiwan by fleeing Guomindang leaders in 1949. The Guomindang ideals – Nationalism, Democracy and People's Livelihood – are carved above the entrance to the burial chamber in gold on black marble.