Between May 4 and May 31, 2024, Monsignor Pier Francesco Fumagalli, a member of the Steering Committee of the Istituto Italo Cinese, embarked on a long trip to China, dedicated to cultural exchange and knowledge sharing, travelling through seven cities: Qingdao, Hangzhou, Beijing, Xi’an, Tianjin, Ningbo and Shanghai.
On this occasion, he gave some interesting lectures and conferences as a visiting professor that were attended by many students from some of China’s most prestigious universities, including Communication University of Zhejiang, Zhejiang University, Northwest University and Nankai University. The main theme of these meetings focuses on the figure of Marco Polo, whose 700th anniversary of his death falls this year, and the manuscripts of his famous work “The Travels” preserved at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. During one of his last stops, which was in the city of Beijing, Monsignor Fumagalli gave an interesting lecture at the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on the topic of cultural exchange between East and West.
During his many visits, he also met with several representatives of relevant Chinese cultural government institutions, such as the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Qingdao Municipality and the Association for International Cultural Exchanges of Zhejiang Province, emphasizing the importance of promoting cultural exchanges between Italy and China.
Finally, during his stay in China, he was able to visit some of the main cultural and artistic points of interest in the cities where he stayed. Each place he visited evoked that ancient link between East and West, a cultural bridge that, from Marco Polo to the present day, continues to stimulate encounters between different worlds and reveal the beauty of a millennia-old civilization.
