Italian teacher waxes lyrical about China

Alberto Casartelli, who became a teacher at Tianjin Foreign Studies University in September, is expected to see more students during the spring semester.

The 46-year-old teaches Italian language and culture courses, but because of COVID-19, all the courses were conducted online. For the new semester, which begins on Friday, students will return to school for in-person courses.

Casartelli's popularity comes partly from his role as an emerging singer and songwriter in China. He writes Chinese and Italian lyrics based on Chinese culture and old stories and once performed on national television broadcaster CCTV.

He said that his song Gli Amanti Farfalla (or Butterfly Lovers) is based on the ancient tale of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet.

"Since I came to China for the first time in 2014, I have been fascinated with ancient Chinese culture with its splendid history of art, music, poetry and philosophy," he said. "I was also impressed by the people's hospitality, which I have rarely seen elsewhere."

Early last year, he wrote a Chinese song to encourage people around the world to fight against COVID-19.

He cited the inspirational words of author Lu Xun (1881-1936) about "fighting with the pen" and then composed Our Struggle Together with his wife Liu Wei.

"Music is my greatest passion and has been part of my life since I was a child. It has no borders, so I think it's the perfect bridge between Italian and Chinese culture," he said.

"I have plenty of energy, so I've focused my will on bringing China and Italy closer, both as a teacher and as a musician."

Wen Ji, one of Casartelli's students, called him "a very learned professor".

Wen said that the classes are interactive, and Casartelli is keen on getting students to express themselves.

"We are more like friends. He promised to teach me how to write a song," Wen added.

Casartelli previously taught English and art history in Italy. He also taught Western art history at the Communication University of Zhejiang in 2014.

Casartelli met his wife eight years ago in 2015 in Jinan, Shandong province, where he was working at an international school.

"Since we tied the knot, our lives have been all about Italian and Chinese culture. Although there are cultural differences, our respect and love of different cultures have been the basis of our love."

The couple said that they team up to compose music, shoot music videos and try to contribute to Sino-Italian friendship.

Last month, Liu gave two online courses on basic Chinese and Chinese culture, which were part of the Chinese Bridge program run by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation at the Ministry of Education and the School of European Studies at Tianjin Foreign Studies University. Casartelli participated in the program to expand his knowledge of Chinese.

On the anniversary of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, a song the couple wrote in 2021 in Italian and Chinese, Chuandi Liliang (Send Me Your Strength), became popular again and was broadcast on Chinese and Italian media.

"The successful Beijing Olympic Games kicked off a new journey for China. My hometown of Milan will stage the next Winter Olympics, so the song is for the two countries and the world," Casartelli said.