A stone-paved street in Zhaohua Ancient Town in Guangyuan. [Photo by Huang Leran for China Daily]

Women in Guangyuan were proud of their empress. Every year on her birthday, which fell during the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, they would visit the Huangze Temple, burning incense and paying homage.

Local women took the day off and their husbands had to take care of all the household chores.

After paying homage to Wu, the women would visit a temple fair, row boats in the Jialing River and have picnics on the hill.

Over time, the activities have evolved into a festival in Wu's honor, and is today known as Guangyuan Women's Day, which falls on Sept 1 each year, according to Huang Lixia, an official with the Guangyuan government information office.

Guangyuan has abundant tourist attractions, many of which precede even the empress.

The best-known site is the Sword Gate Pass, a towering V-shaped mountain pass on the Shu Path, which gave rise to the household Chinese idiom: "One man at the pass keeps 10,000 men at bay". Shu is the ancient name for Sichuan.