The dusk in Chang'an City always smells like rust.
Of course, I'm not talking about today's modern city with many tall buildings, but the real Chang'an more than 1,300 years ago - the dust on Zhuque Street, the mutton smell on the bodies of Hu merchants in the West City, and the long-lasting bloodshed after the Xuanwu Gate Mutiny.
I stood in the corner of the antique market in the city center and watched the stall owner selling a "Tang Dynasty Kaiyuan Tongbao" to tourists. The copper coin had an exaggerated rust color, and its edges were as smooth as if it had just been pressed out of a mold yesterday.
