THE ancient city of Kaifeng sits at the center of the Central Plains, by the Yellow River in Henan Province, where the first light of Chinese civilization shone. Due to its central location, Kaifeng took several turns as national capital and home to seven royal families that ruled either a united or broken Middle Kingdom. Today the deep tincture of its antiquity can still be seen or sensed on a trip to this 2,700-year-old city, rich with imperial legacies and pristinely preserved folk traditions.