A grand ceremony was held at the Grand Red Gate leading to emperors' tombs of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) on Thursday to mark their listings as a world heritage site on July 3.

A 2.4-meter-tall statue, commemorating the listing and made of a whole huge piece of boulder, was erected at the gate, with six Chinese characters on its front, reading World Heritage Site, and the introduction of the Ming tombs on the back.

The Ming tombs compound has 13 mausoleums for emperors of the imperial Ming Dynasty. The first tomb was built in 1409 and the last one was built 200 years later in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The tombs are renowned as a unique, excellent symbol of the architectural arts of emperors' mausoleums in China's long-standing history.

(People's Daily August 29, 2003)