Situated in Yixian County of Hebei Province, 120 kilometres southwest of Beijing, the Western Qing Tombs are the eternal sleeping chambers for 4 emperors, 3 queens, and 69 princes, princesses and imperial concubines of the Qing Dynasty. Walled on all sides by green hills, the tombs nestle comfortably on a large plain. The entire area of some 800 square kilometres of hilly land is covered by more than 20,000 ancient pines and cypresses, shading the winding paths between the tombs. 

It was the custom in feudal China for each dynasty to have its royal burial ground where emperors, empresses, concubines, princes and princesses were buried together. There were altogether 10 emperors in the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911) since they conquered central China in 1644. Four of them had their tombs built in the Western Qing Tombs, 5 of them built their tombs in the Eastern one (120 km east of Beijing), the last emperor, Puyi, did not have his tomb built in neither of these two tombs. 

The four tombs in Western Qing Tombs are:
Tai Tomb for Emperor Yongzheng(1678-1735, the 3rd emperor)
Chang Tomb for Emperor Jiaqing (1760-1820, the 5th emperor)
Mu Tomb for Emperor Daoguang (1782-1850, the 6th emperor)
Chong Tomb for Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908, the 9th emperor)

There are another 10 tombs for the empresses, princes and princesses, altogether 76 royal family members were buried in this peaceful land. 

The Tai Tomb for Emperor Yongzheng is the first tomb in this area and largest. The Chong Tomb for Emperor Guangxu is the last tomb built in the Qing Dynasty, and his tomb is the only one whose underground palace is opened to public.

It was listed for state-level preservation in 1961 and was listed by UNESCO as a World Culture Heritage Site in 2000, together with the Eastern Qing Tombs.