Western Xia Mausoleums, Imperial necropolis in Yinchuan, China

The Western Xia Imperial Tombs lie along the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains, about 40 km west of Yinchuan. The complex covers some 50 km² and contains nine imperial mausoleums and about 250 tombs of imperial relatives and officials. Each mausoleum has a rectangular outer wall, gate towers, stele pavilions, a barbican and an inner enclosure with corner watch towers. The solid tomb mound, built of rammed earth, stands off-centre in the north-west part of the inner enclosure and can reach 23 metres in height; holes in the mound once held wooden beams.

The Tangut leader Li Yuanhao founded the Western Xia in 1038 and moved the remains of his grandfather Li Jiqian and father Li Deming to the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains. Mongol forces destroyed the dynasty in 1227 and severely damaged the tombs. Large-scale excavation began in 1972; by 2014 nine imperial mausoleums and 254 subordinate tombs had been confirmed, and UNESCO inscribed the site in 2025.

The site's name in Chinese, Xixia Ling, links the tombs to the Tangut Western Xia state. Mausoleum No. 3, attributed to Emperor Jingzong (Li Yuanhao, 1003–1048), combines traditional mausoleum and temple styles with Buddhist features. Bricks from its stele pavilions carry Chinese surnames such as Li and Niu, showing that Han craftsmen took part in construction.

The complex runs about 12 km south-west to north-east along the foothills, with mausoleums 1 and 2 at the southern tip and the later tombs further north; mausoleum 3, the most fully excavated, lies about 4 km north of them. The museum complex was moved outside the protected area in 2019, so check its location before setting out. Ground is gravel and coarse sand on a pre-mountain fan at 1,150–1,220 m, with little rain and strong sun.

In 1977, excavators opened Tomb 101, which showed no signs of looting, only to find it had been robbed. In silt 0.4 metres below the passage floor they found a gilded bronze ox 1.2 metres long and weighing 188 kilograms.