Tang: Treasures From the Silk Road Capital

Overview

If you think T2 has made tea trendy today, you should've been around in ancient China. In fact, it was the Golden Age — or the Tang Dynasty — which kicked off around 618, that turned the mighty tea leaf into a Thing. Whether you were a mere commoner or royalty, you'd spend a heck of a lot of time sitting around, brewing, sipping and assessing.

In celebration of this and the many other wonders of the Tang Dynasty, the Art Gallery of NSW is holding a mega exhibition. They're bringing you 130 objects — from gold dragons to artworks to terracotta sculptures — to help you relive Chinese history.

On top of its tea culture, the Tang Dynasty is famous for a bona fide #ladyboss by the name of Wu Zetian, who took the reigns between 690-705, and was the only female in China's history to rule as Empress. What's more, the empire's capital city, Chang'an, was the absolutely colossal gateway to the famous Silk Road. While London was still a wee baby town, this gargantuan city numbered one million and sprawled as far as Korea in the north and Vietnam in the south.

The exhibition opens on April 9 and will finish up on July 10. If you're keen for a Sydney date that isn't just 'grabbing a drink', this is a surefire winner.