Xixia Imperial Tombs

Once a mighty force, the Tangut Empire... wait, who?! If you have heard of the Tangut Empire before you must have either been to the tombs before, be a Chinese History major or maaaaybe just picked up tiny bit of info on it in some museum or wikipedia. Well, so the Tanguts had an empire from 1038 to 1227 in northwestern China (this according to Wikipedia). The empire got totally destroyed by the Mongols and traces of it vanished until the 20th century when the imperial tombs where discovered near Yinchuan, Ningxia, which was the empire's former capital.

The tombs are a quick 30min cab ride from the city center (rail station). Upon arrival you are greeted by a massive visitor center/museum that makes any city's town hall look small. The museum isn't actually that big and only has a few halls. The ceilings are just so massive and want to seem imposing, perhaps because the tombs stand tall too (or maybe the cinema takes up so much space, I didn't go inside)? Yinchuan is super hot in summer so staying in the cool museum is very welcoming. You also get a great introduction to the Western Xia (Xī Xià), see many artifacts, get you ready to see the real thing later. Well, let's be fair, the imperial tombs are a not the greatest to see from the outside.

After having seen everything in the museum you can trek through an underpass to the opposite side …