The Ming Tombs enter the diary as a striking stop on a November 1, 1982, sightseeing excursion in Beijing. Warhol records the journey there and the afternoon it took, but offers no detailed description of the site itself; its significance in the account rests on the force of his reaction and the scale of the outing.

Setting and Route

After visiting the Great Wall of China, Warhol and his party boarded a bus to the Ming Tombs. He describes the destination as another two-hour journey away, conveying how far apart the day’s major stops seemed within the excursion.

The Visit

Warhol calls the Ming Tombs staggering, echoing his reaction to the Great Wall earlier in the account. The brief remark registers strong impact without explaining what he saw or specifying which features impressed him.

Place in the Day’s Account

The visit was not a brief detour: Warhol says the journey and stop made up a whole afternoon. In the diary, that measure of time, alongside the repeated sense of astonishment, makes the Ming Tombs a defining part of the day’s sightseeing, even though the account leaves the site itself largely undescribed.