Now we come to the famous avenue of stone animals and statues. Stone animals and statues are found at the entrance to imperial tombs from the Han Dynasty onwards, but none of the group is as famous as that of the Ming Tombs.

The avenue starts with two columns, called wangzhu in Chinese, one on each side. They are hexagonal, carved with a cloud design, and the top is shaped like a round cylinder. The animals are lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin and horses, one kneeling and the other standing, twelve on each side and twenty-four in all. Xiezhi was a mythical beast or the feline family, said to be able to distinguish right and wrong. Qilin was a sort of imaginary animal with a scaly body, a cow's tail, deer's hooves and horns on its head.

With "the way of the spirit" turning slightly, the statues appear: two military officers wearing sabres, two civilian officials and two ministers of merit. Six statues on each side and twelve in all.