More than 8,500 people got to enjoy a free trip, normally worth $25 to a tomb, in Beijing — all thanks to their last name.
The only thing the lucky visitors have in common is that they're surnamed Zhu. During last weekend's holiday, the Ming Tombs decided to treat the Zhus just because. "Ming Dynasty was ruled by Zhu family," a spokesman told The Beijing News.
🇨🇳 ~BuzzFeed History Class!~ 👲
The Ming Dynasty was the Han-led dynasty that ruled China between 1368 to 1644, following the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. Beijing was its primary capital. Zhu Yuanzhang was its founding emperor, of course, Zhu became the royal family name.
Although the founding emperor was buried somewhere else, from the Yongle Emperor onwards, a total of 13 Ming dynasty emperors were buried here, thus the Ming Tombs are commonly known as the "Thirteen Mausoleums" in Chinese.