Why I Live in Southern Italy: A Chinese Creator's Take on…

Key Takeaways

• A Chinese expat explains why he settled in southern Italy, comparing it to Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing food culture.
• He traces the region's Greek roots, from ancient colonies to the name "Magna Graecia."
• He argues Greek settlers shaped Italian language, architecture, and even the Latin alphabet.
• He shares a hands-on look at a reconstructed ancient Roman mill and bakery in Pompeii.
• He explains why Florence's dialect, not Rome's, became modern standard Italian.

Why do I live in southern Italy now? In Beijing, you have Peking duck. In Shanghai, you have soup dumplings. In Chongqing, you have hotpot. And here? Here we have Margherita pizza. Do you know the story of Margherita? Do you know that the Greek colonies and Rome were founded around the same time, in the 8th century BC? That was during China's Western Zhou dynasty. When the Greek colonies and Rome were being established, China was in the Western Zhou period. The Greek colonies were at their peak around 500 BC, before 1999 [Note: likely a slip for 499 BC or a general reference to antiquity].

A Land of Many Peoples

Before Italy was unified, there were many city-states and peoples here. The Latins, you know, were the founders of Rome. But there's an older people called the Osci. They spoke the Oscan language. It's very possible the name "Greek" [Note: the speaker seems to confuse "Greek" with a local term, possibly "Graeci"] comes from the Oscan language. In ancient times, there was already a village here. So the world had these settlements developing together.

There were other peoples too: the Sardinians, the Sicilians, the Venetians. I think you know that in the 8th century BC, many Greeks left their own country and came to southern Italy. They founded many cities. You must know Naples. Naples and many southern Italian cities have names that come from the Greek language. Do you know what Naples means? In Greek, it means "new city." Why did the Greeks call it new city? Because when the Greeks arrived, they built a small city called Palaepolis, meaning "old city." But then the Greeks built another city nearby and called it Neapolis, "new city," to distinguish it from the old one.

Do you know what Syracuse means? No? It means "nymph" — the daughter of a river god. A nymph drowned in a swamp there. Do you know Crotone? Crotone is a city in Calabria. In ancient times, there was a famous port there. And Crotone means "promontory" because there was a harbor in ancient times.

Why the Greeks Settled Here

Why did the ancient Greeks settle in southern Italy? Because when they saw the fertile plains and the mild climate, they found the land more successful than their own. When the Greeks arrived, they saw beautiful scenery — the mountains and the sea — and they settled down. The Greeks had a very developed culture. They brought their language, their customs, their religion. The local Italians gradually adopted Greek ways — their gods, their architecture. If you see Apollo or Athena statues, those are Greek styles. The Chinese call these columns "Roman columns," but we Italians call them "Greek columns" because the Greeks invented them.

We also use the Greek alphabet system. You know our Latin alphabet — A, B, C, D — that comes from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks said Apollo invented it. We say A, B, C, D.

Do you know what all of southern Italy was called in ancient times, when Rome was being founded? It was called Magna Graecia — "Great Greece." Not because the territory was larger than Greece itself, but because the Greeks here became so important economically and culturally that in some ways they surpassed the homeland. That's why the Greeks called southern Italy "Magna Graecia."

When the Greeks were settling here, Rome was not yet the capital of an empire. Rome was a village. Later, the Greeks and the Romans fought a series of wars. The Greeks were defeated by the Romans and were driven out of southern Italy. Then Rome took over Italy, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Rome became the capital of a vast empire.

The Birth of Italian

The Romans spoke Latin. But Latin had many dialects. After the Roman Empire fell, Latin evolved into many languages — Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese. They all come from Latin. In Italy, Latin evolved into the Florentine dialect, the Sardinian dialect, the Sicilian dialect.

Do you know that in 1861, when Italy was unified, they chose the Florentine dialect as the official language? Not because it was the most spoken, but because Italy's greatest writers used it in their works. Do you know Dante? Dante wrote in the Florentine dialect. Other Italian writers generally used Latin, but Dante loved the Florentine dialect.

A Mill and Bakery in Pompeii

Look at this — an ancient bakery in Pompeii. The Romans made bread and pizza here. Back then, pizza had cheese and vegetables but no tomato sauce. Why? Because tomatoes came from the Americas. They were only introduced to Europe after Columbus discovered the New World.

Let me show you a real ancient mill. Look at how it's made and how it works. The mill has two parts: the upper part is movable, the lower part is fixed. You see these two holes? They're for inserting wooden handles. Two people would push the handles to turn the upper stone. The grain was ground between the stones and became flour. The flour came out from here.

Have you eaten pizza here? I have. There's a pizza called Margherita here. In Beijing, you have Peking duck. In Shanghai, you have soup dumplings. In Chongqing, you have hotpot. And here, we have Margherita pizza. Do you know why it's called Margherita? It's named after an Italian queen. A pizzaiolo made this pizza to welcome the queen. On top, they put mozzarella cheese. On top, they put tomato sauce. On top, they put basil. The red tomatoes, the white mozzarella, the green basil — these are the colors of the Italian flag. The queen loved this third pizza very much because the toppings were delicious. Italians love this pizza.

The Father of Italy

Do you know who the father of Italy is? It's Giuseppe Garibaldi. You Chinese have Sun Yat-sen as your founding father. We have Garibaldi. In 1861, he unified Italy. Do you know where Italy's first capital was? Not Rome. I just went there. In 1861, Rome was not part of Italy — it belonged to the Papal States. So the first capital was Turin. Then the capital moved to Florence. But Garibaldi always dreamed of Rome. Rome became the third capital. Now, here in Pompeii, there's a small country called Vatican City. It's like another world.

I want to show you another bakery with a mill. Inside that mill, archaeologists found many carbonized loaves of bread. They're now in the museum in Naples. Look at the layout of Pompeii — it's the same as a Roman military camp. There are two main streets: one running north-south, one running east-west. Where they cross is the center of Pompeii and the most important intersection. The streets of Pompeii were designed so people could quickly get from one side of the city to the other. There are two-way streets and one-way streets. How do we know? If the road has three or four large stepping stones, it's a two-way street. If it has one or two, it's a one-way street.

The ancient Pompeians were very smart. There were no traffic lights in ancient Rome. Look at this street — as you walk, it gradually widens. That was to avoid traffic jams. The streets here couldn't be used by carts. But look, there are two ruts here. The carts were narrower back then. The horses were smaller, more like ponies. They could pass through, but wide carts couldn't.

Augustus and the Calendar

Do you know Augustus? He was the first emperor of Rome. His real name was Octavian. We Europeans call him Augustus. The month of August is named after him. Originally, the Roman calendar had only ten months. There was no January, no February. Then two months were added. And when Augustus became emperor, he took a month and named it August. Later, others added more months.

Do you know what the Romans called September? For the ancient Romans, September was the seventh month of their calendar. In English, you say September. For the ancient Romans, the year began in March. So September was the seventh month. Then they added January and February, and everything shifted.

Why It Matters for International Readers

This video is a fascinating window into how a Chinese expat in Italy processes and presents European history to a Chinese-speaking audience. The creator is not a professional historian — he's a cultural enthusiast, likely a migrant or long-term resident in southern Italy. His tone is conversational, curious, and deeply appreciative of Italian heritage. He draws explicit parallels between Chinese and Italian history, such as noting that Magna Graecia's founding coincided with China's Western Zhou dynasty. This is a common technique in Chinese cultural content: making foreign history relatable by anchoring it to familiar Chinese reference points.

The creator's position is notably pro-cultural-exchange and non-political. He celebrates Italian food, architecture, and language without any anti-Western or nationalist framing. This matters because it shows a segment of Chinese social media that is genuinely engaged with the world on its own terms — not through the lens of geopolitics or rivalry, but through everyday life, food, and history. For international readers, this is a reminder that Chinese public opinion is not monolithic. Many Chinese creators abroad are simply sharing their lives and discoveries, building cultural bridges one video at a time.

The video also touches on themes that resonate globally: the legacy of Greek and Roman civilization, the origins of pizza, the story of Pompeii. For readers outside China, it's worth noting that Chinese audiences are consuming this kind of content at scale — meaning there is real appetite in China for understanding Western civilization's roots. That has soft-power implications: as Chinese tourism and migration to Europe grow, so does the demand for accessible, engaging explanations of European history in Chinese. This creator is part of that wave.

Sources

• Original: Douyin creator (platform: Douyin, date unknown)
• Context: Reuters — "Pompeii archaeological park unveils discovery of ancient bakery-prison," December 2023 (Note: verify exact date and headline if needed)

SUMMARY: A Chinese expat in southern Italy explains why he settled there, tracing the region's Greek roots, the origins of pizza, Pompeii's ancient mills, and how Florence's dialect became standard Italian.

Originally published on China View.