Genghis Khan's Tomb

Located in the Gandeli Grassland in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, Genghis Khan's Tomb is a symbol of the hero, Genghis Khan. With beautiful grassland environment and mysterious cultural landscape, Genghis Khan's Tomb is a national key cultural relic protection unit. The sacrifice to Genghis Khan has been added in to the national non-material cultural heritage list. The whole spot covers an area of bout 10 square kilometers and is a collection of tourism attraction, catering, accommodation and folk displays. When traveling in the Genghis Khan's Tomb, one can not only experience the unique Mongolian history and culture but the solemn and mysterious memorial ceremonies.

About Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan is an outstanding strategist and politician. He is a Mongolian hero who made great contributions to the founding of the powerful Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) and the unification of China. After the unification of Mongolia, Genghis was elected as the khan of Mongol Khanate. With a large scale of military activities, the territory has spread to Central Asia and the South Russia. He battled against the Xixia Kingdom (1038-1227) twice in the year of 1219 and 1226. When passing by this place, he was deeply attracted by the beautiful scenery here and chose it as his burial place. When he died, his remains were taken to the Ejin Horo Banner on the Ordos Highlands and buried. The place was name as “Ejin Horo”, which means “master's cemetery” in Mongolia. Genghis Khan was a legendary historical figures and his catacomb has a strong attraction to the tourist.

The Location

Since secret funeral is very popular among Mongolian group, it is hard to find out the real tomb of Genghis Khan. And the present one is just a cenotaph. Being migrated several times, the present Genghis Khan's Tomb was built between 1954 and 1956 by the government of the PRC in the traditional Mongol style. It is about 185 kilometers north to the Baotou City. With the carpet of green grasslands and a unique and magnificent grassland view, Genghis Khan's Tomb has become one of the major attractions in Inner Mongolia.

The Layout of the Tomb

With an area of about 55,000 square meters, the main building is composed of three Mongolia halls and a bungalow. The whole building can be divided into six parts, including the main hall, mausoleum, east hall, west hall, east gallery and west gallery.

The three Mongolia halls are standing in a line and covered with golden glazed tile. One the top of the dome, there is flower built by the blue glazed tile, that is the color and pattern, the Mongolian people advocated.

The main hall is an octagonal double hipped roof ger with a height of about 26 meters. The dome is covered with yellow glazed tiles and the eaves are covered with blue glazed tiles. The east and west hall are both with domes shaped like octagons and covered with yellow glazed tile. They are about 23 meters. And the whole mausoleum is shaped like an eagle wings to fly, which shows the unique artistic style of the Mongolian.

The Sculpture of Genghis Khan

The sculpture of Genghis Khan is about 5 meters high and dressed in an armor shirt with a sword on his waist, which looks very handsome. The arc background behind the sculpture is the territory diagram about the four khans, which shows the life story of the emperor and the great achievements about Genghis Khan.

The Murals

The murals on the two galleries mainly depict the important events in his lifetime and his grandson Kublai. The Jinding Tent, election dais, grassland market, shooting field, race track and exhibition hall can be found in the mausoleum. The tent is a ger with a height of 13 meters and a diameter of about 18 meters, which reshows the scene of Genghis Khan ascending the throne in 1206. The murals are mainly depicting the life story of the emperor and the achievements of Genghis Khan.

The Sacrifice

The most popular and most solemn day here is every lunar March 17. It was the day Genghis Khan established his great achievements. The grand memorial ceremony “Suleding” will be held on that day. The Genghis Khan's Tomb is the only site that preserved the sacrifice culture well.