All roads lead to Rome, and Mo Yan is opening yet another

By Zhang Lei

Writer Mo Yan

According to Chinese writer Mo Yan, Rome is like a book and a bottle of wine.unfolding a new magic, page after page, and a bottle of wine. Mo borrowed this analogy from Sun Yuxi, the Chinese Ambassador to Italy, who had once said, “Rome is like a book to read page by page, and a bottle of wine to sip slowly”.

Mo, the renowned Chinese novelist, recently became the new brand ambassador of the bilateral tourism collaboration between China and Lazio, Italy.

Roman Walks: Travel Diary of Mo Yan, a 50-minute documentary, made its debut last week. The travel diary tells the splendor and uniqueness of Rome through Mo’s eyes, a famous Chinese writer.
 
“I’ve no idea why they chose me as the protagonist instead of a good-looking actress,” said Mo, now 53. “All I can offer here are my words depicting the beauty of Rome.”

According to Claudio Mancini, president of Lazio Tourism Board, Mo provides the perspective of a Chinese intellectual, as both Rome and Beijing have ancient cultures.

“In Rome, whenever I saw something striking and magnificent, I related that to the vast and beautiful cultural history of China. This motivated and urged the creative writer instinct in me,” said Mo.

Last year, there were 65,000 Chinese tourists visiting Italy. Among the 12 million people traveling overseas, only 5 percent go to Europe, according to Eugenio Magnani, General Director of Italian National Tourist Office.

S.E Riccardo Sessa, Ambassador of Italy in Beijing, urged Chinese travel agencies to step up promotion of tourism to Italy and confirmed that it will not be affected by H1N1 pandemic flu.

Beijing Tourism Administration signed a tourism promotion contract with Lazio, a central region of Italy last Wednesday to boost bilateral tourism cooperation.

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