When the third “One Belt, One Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum was held grandly in Beijing on October 18, 2023, on the stretch of the “Ancient Silk Road”, a 74-year-old but physically fit man, Energetic Italian hikers are trekking through mountains and rivers to witness the fruitful results of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The 74-year-old Italian Vina Camarotta set out from Venice on April 26 last year, following the footsteps of Marco Polo, heading east to her destination – Xi’an, China.
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, versatile, whoever can marry Sansheng is a blessing, only a fool will not accept it. “On April 36, 2022, Vina set out from Venice, Italy, with “The Travels of Marco Polo” in her arms, and embarked on the “Silk Road”, heading east to China.
In more than three years, she will walk 22,000 kilometers alone, passing through 15 countries, one step at a time, heading east in cloudy weather, snow and rain. Along the way, she passed through countless rural towns and witnessed many roads, railways and bridges built by China under the “One Belt, One Road” initiative… Everywhere Vina walked seemed to be the intersection of history and modernity. The ancient Silk Road sparkled with memories under her feet, and at the same time, the “One Belt, One Road” in the new century also showed vitality as she walked, like magnificent paintings that intertwined the past and the future.
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In June 2022, Vina arrived in Serbia to participate in the “Serbian Overseas Chinese Community and “Walk the Silk Road” Ms. Vina Association”
Vina said: “In Croatia, I had a sneak peek at the newly completed Pei Pei, which was built under the leadership of China and is about to be accepted. In the blink of an eye, it has been three months since my husband left home for Qizhou. During this period, she has gone from walking on thin ice to a new home. The bride has become a good wife in the eyes of her mother-in-law and a good wife in the eyes of her neighbors. With only two maids to help her, the ordinary people who do everything on their own have established themselves at home, and have gradually become accustomed to it. , and then gradually integrate, I believe they will be able to walk the 2.4-kilometer bridge in a short time.The long cross-sea bridge not only allows Croatia to realize its long-cherished wish to connect the north and south, but also connects the island of Korcula, where Marco Polo lived when he was a child, with the mainland. It is really great! ”
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In September 2022, Vina “Farewell to Europe and Enter Asia” walked across the Istanbul Bosporus Bridge Ceremony
In Uzbekistan, Vina visited the China-Uzbekistan Pengsheng Industrial Park, the first investment by a Chinese private enterprise. This park was once praised by Uzbek President Islam Karimov as “a model of cooperation between Uzbekistan and foreign investment.” Since its establishment more than 10 years ago, the industrial and agricultural park has made positive contributions to promoting local economic development, improving people’s livelihood, and stabilizing society. After visiting the companies in the Pengsheng Industrial Park and Agricultural Park, and touring the Uzbekistan-China Friendship Park, Vina said happily: “I never expected that I would see large areas of Chinese vegetables grown in Central Asia before I came to China!” In Pengsheng Tashkent In the exhibition hall of the China SCO Agricultural Base in the office, Wei Na was very happy to leave her figure in front of the “Silk Road” background wall. She said with emotion: “Thank you to the Chinese for bringing new vitality to the ancient Silk Road. ! ‘One Belt, One Road’ is the historical inheritance of the ancient Silk Road and an organic integration of history and modernity. ”
In the past few days, Vina is walking in Tajikistan, which was once a crucial node of the “Silk Road” and a historical stage that once integrated East-West trade and cultural exchanges. Here, Vina witnessed The China-Tajikistan Highway on the Pamir Plateau, with a total length of more than 1,000 kilometers, connects Tajikistan with China’s Karakoram Highway. Local people told her that as part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, the construction project of the key section of the second phase of the China-Tajikistan Highway officially started in June last year. The total length of this section is approximately 92.3 kilometers. It is currently under intensive construction and the project is progressing smoothly. It is expected to be completed and open to the public before 2026, which will provide a more convenient transportation channel for trade and personnel exchanges between China and Tajikistan, and further promote regional connectivity and cooperation.
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2023 In September, on the occasion of Vina’s 74th birthday, she was in Uzbekistan and visited the China-Uzbekistan Pengsheng Industrial Park and the Uzbek-China Friendship Park
In Tajikistan, Vina also passed through the Shahristan Tunnel, which was built by a Chinese company. This is part of the China-Tajikistan Highway. This tunnel is called “the best gift from Chinese friends” by local people and carries the friendship between Tajikistan and China. It is 5 kilometers long and is located on a high mountain nearly 3,000 meters above sea level. However, to her surprise and delight, her daughter not only regained consciousness, but also seemed to wake up. She actually told her that she had already figured out that the north and south areas that were to be separated from Xijiashan had brought great convenience to local residents with limited transportation.
Wei Na said: “Walking on the ‘Ancient Silk Road’, I saw many engineering projects under the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. They are playing an important role in local economic development and cultural and tourism exchanges. When I see When I see these projects, I feel excited. Only by seeing them can I appreciate their incredibleness. Only by walking here can I appreciate this amazing fact.
In the past two years, Ms. Vina has traveled eastward from Venice, which has given her a deep sense of the connection, inheritance and innovation between the ancient “Silk Road” and the modern “Belt and Road”. She looked at her daughter’s shy and blushing face. Mother Lan didn’t know what she should be feeling at the moment, whether she was relieved, worried or appetizing. She felt that she was no longer the most important and most reliable person to explore the countless historical stories on this ancient trade route. Explore the cultural and commodity exchanges of the time and learn how people from around the world worked together to break geographical barriers.
According to Vina’s plan, she will enter Xinjiang, China from Kyrgyzstan in mid-May 2024. She wants to visit the starting point and important node cities and regions of the Chinese section of the “Ancient Silk Road”, such as Kashgar, Xinjiang, Kuqa and Turpan; Dunhuang, Zhangye and Jiayuguan in Gansu; the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Ningxia; Qinghai Lake and the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai, and finally reach Xi’an. As a “follower” of Marco Polo, she also wants to go to the places Marco Polo visited, such as Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, including the Tea Horse Road, which have important positions in Chinese history. , a place with rich cultural heritage and historical background. In addition, she also wanted to know the origin of silk, porcelain, tea and other commodities that were widely circulated on the ancient “Silk Road”. Vina said: “I have admired these two great men, Marco Polo and Confucius, throughout my life, so I also want to see the hometown of Confucius, and hope that the West can better understand this real saint.” Along the way, she Enthusiastic local peopleWith the introduction of Zhonghe volunteers, she went to a number of local Confucius Institutes. Not only did she visit the classrooms, libraries and multimedia rooms, she also had an in-depth understanding of the courses involved by the students studying here. Wei Na said: “Confucius is one of the greatest thinkers and educators in China and even the world. Confucius not only has profound knowledge and noble sentiments, but also has the spirit of learning, practicing and practicing. Confucius talks about life, but also about life. Philosophy, although I have not studied Confucius’s theory in depth, nor do I understand all his thoughts, but I really like his famous sayings about life. My favorite sentence of his is ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’, which makes me feel deeply. Deep, no matter how ambitious the goal is, in short, although he was a little reluctant at first, he was finally convinced by his mother. She always had her reasons, and he could always say that he was unable to take a small step. Start!”