Original online drama “Luoyang,” a production by leading content streaming website iQiyi, will meet viewers around the world today.

Luoyang in Central China’s Henan Province is the first city to be featured in the “iQiyi Chinese Historic City Universe,” a program that gathers content that draws inspiration from Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Dunhuang and Nanjing, in an effort to bridge the gap between China’s local culture and a global audience.

“Luoyang” tells the story of a group of people from different walks of life investigating an unsolved case of crime in the city of Luoyang.

The story was adapted from the novel “Luoyang” by Ma Boyong, one of China’s most acclaimed authors and winner of the prestigious People’s Literature Prize. At the press conference, Ma shared that his inspiration for creating the story was his love of history. “As a person who studies history, I find that no matter what period of history you study, Luoyang is a city you can never miss. Then I realized we should do something for a city so rich with legends.”

The TV series “Luoyang” has so far attracted more than 3.55 million users, with strong interest shown from overseas audiences as it hit seven trending topic charts on Twitter in Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. “Luoyang” will be available on more local mainstream channels and platforms after its global premiere.

Acclaimed actor Huang Xuan, actress Song Qian and singer-actor Wang Yibo, all with significant global reach, will play the leading roles under director Xie Ze.

(SD-Agencies)