Tai Chi enthusiasts perform a set of Tai Chi moves in front of Piazza della Repubblica in Florence, Italy, on April
In front of Florence's iconic cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, more than 30 Tai Chi enthusiasts in the Italian city performed a set of Tai Chi moves to the music, attracting passersby and tourists to gather round and watch.
Dressed in white loose uniforms, the performers brought a sense of tranquility and calmness to the tourist spot, and won a round of applause from the crowd at the end of their little show.
These Chinese martial arts lovers in Italy staged the flash mob event to celebrate the World Tai Chi Day this year. The World Tai Chi Day falls on the last Saturday of April, and is celebrated in many countries across the world.
Marco Calvelli, an Italian who owns an engineering company in Florence, participated in the event. He has been learning and practicing Tai Chi and other Chinese martial arts for some 15 years in Italy.
"I was attracted first of all by Tai Chi itself, and I started to practice with my master. And then I go inside all the other style because they're very different and very interesting to practice together," Calvelli said, adding he learned a lot about himself through practicing Chinese martial arts, or Wushu.
After the Tai Chi show in front of the cathedral, the performers continued the flash mob at three other iconic sites in Florence, including Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza della Signoria. Organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Florence, the event marked a new way for Tai Chi lovers in Italy to promote Chinese martial arts with fun.
In Florence, Tai Chi has been gaining popularity over the years. Giuseppe Gualdani is a Wushu master and founding member of a Wushu institute in the city. With 30 years of learning and practicing Tai Chi, he now teaches around 350 students in Florence, ranging from 4-year-olds to adults.
Giulio Vanni is a student of Gualdani and now a skillful practitioner of different types of Chinese martial arts, including Tai Chi sword. The 20-year-old started to learn about Chinese martial arts when he was nine.
"Since the first day, I really enjoyed the practice of Chinese martial arts because I think the movements are unique," said Vanni, a Kung Fu movie enthusiast. After years of practice, the better he was able to perform the martial arts, the more training he would like to get, and the more he loved about martial arts.
Reflecting on his experience with Tai Chi, he said: "When I started, I didn't really understand this concept. But with years, I understood that if you want to learn very good Chinese martial arts, you have to learn Chinese culture."
"Since I fell in love with Chinese culture, I thought keep practicing Chinese martial arts was the best way to learn the Chinese culture," Vanni said. "I feel like when I practice Wushu, I really feel life."
