Emperor Taizong is revered today as a wise ruler who led China into a golden age. His reign saw the invention of paper, book printing, gunpowder and the compass, hundreds of years earlier than in Europe. After his death in 649, he was buried in a sumptuous mausoleum in the mountain Zhao Ling. Chinese archaeologists are searching for its entrance, aided by European technology. The historical parallels between the Golden Age of Taizong, who encouraged exchanges with the West, and present-day China give this program a timely quality.
