Seventy kilometers from Xi'an is the Qianling Mausoleum for the Tang Dynasty Emperor Gao Zong and his wife Wu Zetian, who became the only empress in the history of China after her husband's death. Among all the mausoleums over the centuries, this is the only one for both an emperor and an empress buried together. They were husband and wife, and oddly, emperor and empress of two dynasties, a fact making it all the more unique in the history of the world.

Qianling Mausoleum was built in 684 AD, and brought into completion 23 years later. It is located on Liangshan Hill, the north peak, where Qianling is located, is the highest. the entire hill itself is used as the mausoleum where the grace adjoined the hill, posing majestically. Two walls surround the mausoleum, with the inner wall enclosing an area of 2.4 square kilometers. The stone steps in the front are 575.8 meters long and 11 meters wide. The Sima Road to the south is lined with 124stone statues of people ostriches, horses, lions and pillars.

In addition, there are also stone tablets of such as “The Tablet to the Holy Deeds of Emperor Gao Zong and The Wordless Tablet to Wu Zetian. There are also 61 stone statues, representing the heads of the ethnic minority groups and the envoys from friendly countries who came to attend Emperor Gao Zong's funeral. With reference to the number, variety and arrangement of the stone carvings, Qianling Mausoleum set a good example fro other similar constructions till the early Qing Dynasty. The arrangement of stone carvings was largely identical in successive dynasties.

The Tablet to the Holy Deeds of Emperor Gao Zong consists of seven joints. It is also called Seven-joint Tablet. It is said that the seven joints symbolize the Seven Elements in the Universe, namely the Sun, the Moon, Metal, Wood, Water, Earth, and Fire. The ancient Chinese believe that the Universe was composed of these seven elements. The tablet measures 6.3 meters high, and weighs 61.6tons. The pedestal for the tablet was carved with various figures of beasts. The Wordless Tablet was erected in memory of Empress Wu Zetian. It is 6.3 meters high, and weighs 98.8 tons. Why was a wordless tablet set up for Empress Wu Zetian? Some say that she wanted people of later generations to give her a just and fair appraisal. Others say she thought that her merits and virtues were so immeasurable that they were beyond words. Anyway, such a tablet has not been found before any other imperial mausoleums in our country.

Surrounding the mausoleum are seventeen tombs of imperial family members. Among them the Tomb of Princess Yongtai, Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai and Tomb of Prince Yide have yielded a great number of rare articles such as frescoes, pottery figurines, etc.