Quanzhou is a place suitable for slowing down and experiencing, which is similar to Venice, Italy. Both cities blend culture and life very well. "After living and working in Quanzhou, Fujian, the" largest port in the East "depicted by Marco Polo for many years, Italian photographer Eros truly experienced the fusion and coexistence of diverse cultures in the local area. From July 27th to 31st, Italian Prime Minister Meloni made an official visit to China. Elos is very concerned about this and frequently shares relevant information on social media, welcoming the further continuation of the historical relationship of friendly exchanges between Italy and China. On April 5, 2021, Italian photographer Eros and his wife Lin Yuanyuan took wedding photos with the Liusheng Tower as the background in Quanzhou, Fujian. More than 10 years ago, Elos met and fell in love with a Chinese girl named Lin Yuanyuan, and came to her hometown Quanzhou to get married and start a family. Having settled in Quanzhou for many years, Elos still finds everything here novel and interesting. He uses his camera to tell the story of Quanzhou in his eyes, "hoping that my photography works can help more people understand Quanzhou and bring more people into Quanzhou. As early as the 13th century, Italian traveler Marco Polo traveled to China for 17 years before departing from Quanzhou, the "largest port in the East," and returning to his hometown Venice along the Maritime Silk Road. In his travelogue "Marco Polo," he praises the flourishing commerce of Quanzhou without hesitation: "The thorn tree (now Quanzhou) is one of the largest ports in the world, where a large number of merchants gather and goods pile up like mountains..." "What kind of place can have such a glorious history?" With such questions, 27 year old Italian girl Yasmin Von Roon came to Quanzhou twice this year to experience the millennium old ancient city life and "Maritime Silk Road" culture. Just as Marco Polo built a bridge between our cultures centuries ago, I am also hopeful for closer ties between Italy and China in the future. Hundreds of years have passed, and the Silk Road relationship between Quanzhou and Italy continues to this day and continues to deepen. After the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" was put forward, Quanzhou, as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road recognized by UNESCO, has increasingly close trade relations with countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road". According to the statistics of Quanzhou Customs, in the first half of this year, the import and export volume of Quanzhou to the "the Belt and Road" co built country was 95.25 billion yuan, up 22.9% year on year, accounting for 68.4% of Quanzhou's total foreign trade value in the same period. As an important outer port of Quanzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties, Shishi Shihu Port (formerly known as "Linluandu") witnessed the prosperity of ancient maritime trade and became one of the 22 world heritage sites of "Quanzhou: the world maritime trade center of Song and Yuan China". Nowadays, the modern Shihu Port Area, which faces it, has taken over the baton of the Silk Road spirit, opened a new route of "Silk Road maritime transportation", and continued to write a new story of "Maritime Silk Road". In February 2023, two 100000 ton berths, No. 5 and No. 6, in Shihu Port Area were completed and put into operation, and two RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) international routes from Quanzhou to Singapore and Malaysia were opened. As of now, Shihu Port Area has opened and operated more than 20 domestic and foreign trade routes, providing direct access to countries and regions such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. The picture shows Quanzhou Customs officers stationed in Shishi supervising export containers in Shihu Port Area. In May of this year, Italian Ambassador to China Ambrose visited Quanzhou. He stated that the exchanges between Italy and Quanzhou have a long history, and he hopes that both sides can deepen cooperation in areas such as economy, trade, culture and tourism, science and technology, art, education, etc., strengthen personnel exchanges and cultural exchanges, and further strengthen friendly relations. Quanzhou attaches great importance to exchanges and cooperation with Italy, and in recent years, both sides have continuously strengthened cooperation in the fields of textile and clothing, footwear and shoe machinery, stone processing, ceramic technology, etc., with broad development prospects Quanzhou Mayor Cai Shengli said. (New Society)