Rome marks Spring Festival with 2-day event

The local Chinese community held a two-day street festival in the Italian capital over the weekend to mark the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 8 this year.

Set up outside the Rome Auditorium, a complex dedicated to cultural events, the festival drew a large crowd of Italians and Chinese from across the country.

Children were attracted to the Shaolin martial arts demonstration, with their eyes glued to performers doing standard kung fu exercises with a variety of weapons.