The photographs, of which 60 out of 100 represent an Italian and a Chinese, were reproduced on flags distributed free of charge to Prato citizens willing to hang them outside their home. Later they became the Facewall Prato exhibition, which will run from March 22 to June 31 in Prato.

Shi told Xinhua he was in talks with Italian authorities to also present Facewall Prato as one of the side events at Expo Milano 2015, the world exposition running in Milan, in northern Italy, from May 1 to Oct. 31.

Besides learning how to cohabitate peacefully in today's society, knowing our ancient roots is equally important, Shi went on saying. This was the reason behind the success of Tong Men-g, the first theatrical play ever to take place in Italian and Chinese simultaneously.

The actor retraced the stories of his ancestors to "make Italians aware of the profoundness of Chinese culture" but also "help second-generation Chinese rediscover their roots."

The play presents Shi's great-grand-father Li Zhuru, who was killed in fighting against the Japanese and declared a national hero, to pass to the experience of an 11-year-old boy uprooted from China's Shandong province and sent with his mother to his new country.

In Italy, Shi was a dishwasher and a door to door salesman, but also a student at Bocconi University of Milan and an interpreter for ministers and high-level meetings, before realizing his dream to become a theatre and cinema actor, but especially a bridge for dialogue.