The shapes of the buildings of all the tombs are almost the same. Among the thirteen tombs, Chang Ling, the tomb of Emperor Yong Le, built first, is the largest and the best preserved with a history of more than 500 years. A 7-kilometre-long passageway, also called the Sacred Way, lead to the tombs. Along the passageway, there are Dahong Men (the Great Red Gate), Stela Pavilion, a group of stone statues, and Dragon and Phoenix Gate. In front of the Great Red Gate, there stands an elegant marble monument.

Chang Ling has a group of palatial buildings, including tomb gate, Ling'en Men (the Gate of Eminent Favour), Ling'en Dian (the Hall of Eminent Favour),lnner Red Gate, Soul Tower and the Precious Summit. Ling'en Dian, similar to Taihe Dian of the Palace Museum, covers a floor space of nearly 2000 square metres. It is supported by 60 huge columns (32 of them are open), each made of a single Nanmu tree. The four in the center are 1.17 metres in diameter and two persons can hardly embrace them. Smooth and straight, they look most marvellous.

Ding Ling is the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yi Jun of the Ming Dynasty. The secrets of the Underground Palace of the tomb were finally revealed in May, 1957, after one year's excavation. The Underground Palace, Neat and dry, is entirely made of solid blocks of marble and granite. It is composed of 5 halls-the front, the middle, the rear, the east and the east wing halls. ln the central hall, there are three caved marble thrones. In the rear hall, there are three coffins, one for the emperor and two for his empresses. Some 3000 articles unearthed are now on show.

The Underground Palace has 7 pairs of two-leafed doors made of white marble stone, each pair weighing 8 tons, They are easy to open and close. When the doors are closed ,they are propped up by stone bars inside and cannot be pushed open from outside.