GUANGZHOU — Looking through the windows in the meeting room, there is a bridge linking two parts of the campus of Guangzhou University. Italian scholar Denis Bastieri often finds himself indulging in the beauty of the scenery.

Back in 2007, when Bastieri came on his honeymoon to China, traveling along the Silk Road, he did not know that his journey would later become an invisible bridge linking Italy with China.

"Our world is like a book. If you don't travel, you only read one page. My wife and I love traveling, so we decided to follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo to discover China," says Bastieri.

During the trip, Bastieri visited many famous spots mentioned in Marco Polo's books, including the Crescent Lake in Northwest China.

The experience gave Bastieri a positive impression of the Asian country. Three years later, in 2010, he joined an exchange program to work at Guangzhou University in South China's Guangdong province.

Bastieri worked as a particle physicist at the University of Padua in Italy. He then turned his attention to developing hardware and software to detect high-energy radiation. Guangzhou University was exploring new ideas in radio astronomy, which was complementary to Bastieri's study.

Located in northern Italy's Veneto region, Padua is famed for its many bridges and canals. Bastieri believed that bridges are of great importance, not only in terms of transportation but also in linking different cultures and societies.

"The longer I stayed in Guangzhou, the more I fell in love with the city and wanted to build a much longer bridge to link Padua and Guangzhou," says Bastieri.

Starting with exchange students, Bastieri worked with the two universities in Italy and China to build the invisible "bridge". Step-by-step, the two institutions cooperated in writing scientific articles and exchanging professors.

In 2018, the Guangzhou International Sister Cities University Alliance was founded to establish a multilateral exchange mechanism to promote cooperation between scholars from sister cities.

"I believe it is imperative to exchange students because the youth are the future. Also, they are the ambassadors of different cultures and will be able to introduce exotic cultures to their hometown to bridge different countries," says Bastieri.

Although the pandemic created barriers to international exchanges, GISU offered international online courses to its member universities.

"We are looking forward to restarting the international exchanges when possible," says Bastieri. "People nowadays face global challenges, including global warming, poverty, lack of food, and so on, so we need to collaborate to find global solutions. I completely agree with China's appeal to 'build a shared future'."

Bastieri enjoys living in China and has brought his family to settle in Guangzhou. At 13, his son can speak a few Chinese words and distinguish different types of traditional Chinese teas.

"Chinese cuisine and traditions are all about culture. The food is not merely to fill your stomach, but represents how Chinese people understand the world," says Bastieri. "Italy and China share the love of tradition and history, so I believe it is quite easy for the two peoples to talk together and collaborate."