Tracing China's origins

At night, I visited Yingtian Gate, the southern entrance to Luoyang's palace city. Reconstructed according new political order. She chose Luoyang as her capital city and called it the "Divine Capital".

Under her rule, a central axis, an ensemble of palaces, ceremonial and public buildings, roads and other structures gradually took shape.

Many were huge, as high as 150 meters, according to records. "If Chang'an reflects the duration of the Tang Dynasty, as it was used by the Tang as the capital for more than 200 years, then Luoyang represents the pinnacle of architectural achievement of that time," says Wang Kai, a local historian.

Today, the buildings are gone, but visitors can still see some of their unearthed foundations and tour replicas of some of the city's ancient components.

At the Dingdingmen Site Museum, the southern gate of Luoyang's outer city, visitors can see a re-creation of a Tang-era roadway featuring traces of wheel ruts, footprints and hoof prints. It is easy to imagine the bustle of trade along the ancient Silk Road, which linked Luoyang with Xiyu, a historical term used to describe modern-day Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Central Asia.

Because of this significance, the gate was named part of the UNESCO World Heritage site, "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", in 2014.

At night, I visited Yingtian Gate, the southern entrance to Luoyang's palace city. Reconstructed according to historical records and archaeological findings, the preserved foundations reveal its huge scale and complex structure, with replicas conveying the former splendor of the complex.

Many young people dressed in traditional Chinese clothing posed for photos against the backdrop of the towering gate, where Empress Wu ascended to the throne more than 1,000 years ago.