Italian teacher waxes lyrical about China

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.