An Italian hamlet in the heart of China: it is the HB Italian Town Changsha, the new theme park dedicated to the excellence of Italian products recently inaugurated in Changsha, the capital of the province of Hunan. The town is the reconstruction of an ideal Italian town by a group of Italian consultants, architects and craftsmen that hosts restaurants, hotels, shops, cinemas and theatres and also features the replicas of monuments in Assisi, Venice and La Spezia. The project is entirely financed by the Huayi Brothers (HB Changsha) Film & Culture City Co. Ltd and with the funds of a syndicate of investors. Huayi Brothers Beijing, one of China’s major film production companies, is the brand licensee.
The construction work began three years ago and it already hosts 45 retailers, 24 of which are directly managed by roughly 40 Italians, many of whom have decided to move to Changsha, also because the spaces have been assigned free of charge for the first five years.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony of this extraordinary promotional instrument for Italy and Italian products in a province with 70 million inhabitants, was attended by Italian Ambassador, Ettore Sequi, the Deputy Governor of Hunan, He Baoxiang, and many Chinese officials. Also former Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema was present in the capacity of President of the New Silk Road Foundation and, on behalf of Umbria and Marche, the Italian regions most involved in the projects, there were respectively the Councillor for Agriculture, Fernanda Cecchini, and Regional Councillor Fabio Urbinati, who officially inaugurated Casa Marche.
