Where: Dabaotai Museum of Western Han Dynasty Tombs

Main attractions: Over 2,000 years old now, the Western Han (Xihan) Tombs are much older than the Ming Tombs (500 years old), and were made of pure wood, instead of stone. The museum is built on the original site of the tomb of a king named Liu Jian who owned Guangyang, a small kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), as he was a grandson of Liu Bang, founder of the dynasty.

It is the best-preserved and oldest Xihan Tombs in Beijing, of vital significance for academic studies on the Han culture and the history of Beijing.

Eye-catchers: The King's Tomb (No 1), is well-kept in its original layout, in line with the burial standards of a Han emperor, having blocks of rare cypress wood packed up as walls to separate the sleeping and living rooms.

Horses and carts used by the king were buried with him but today only copies of carts and horse bones can be seen, the real ones having been re-buried after excavation so as to better protect them. In the courtyard there is a dried well from the Jin (1115-1234).

Fans of archaeology can experience excavation, trying their own hands digging in a field, where some relics have been buried for them to find.
Pity: Don't expect Xihan Tombs to be as spacious as the Ming Tombs, and there are also not many excavated artefacts to be seen, because the king's and his wife's tombs were robbed in the past.

Opening time: 9 am-4 pm, except Mon
Price: 10 yuan (US$1.3), 5 yuan for primary and middle school students. More charges (over 30 yuan/US$3.8 per hour) for excavation experiences.
Getting there: Take Te 7 from Qianmen, or 744, 905, 937 (western route), 967, to get off at Shijiegongyuan (World Park), then walk south for ten minutes.
Tel: 010-63736427