A tale of two cities

Visitors stroll around the lantern fair held on the banks of Qinhuai River in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. You You/For China Daily

Florence, in Tuscany, is globally celebrated for its aesthetic allure.

The Piazza della Signoria, the Florentine government's historical center, is one of Italy's most significant public places.

The L-shaped open space is a meeting point not only for art, history and religion but also for the thousands of visitors from around the world who flock to its wide-open space every day to soak in the festive atmosphere.

Entering the piazza for a leisurely stroll is akin to entering a time tunnel－one that's liberally decorated with stupendous pieces of ancient and Renaissance art.

If that stroll is taken after sundown, your time travel may seem to draw to a sudden halt when you cast your eye over the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio as it casts its shadow in the moonlight over the statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa.

The view is all the more poignant when you consider that over hundreds of years the rich and the poor, the great and the good－including Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, who ruled the city between 1513 and 1519, and Leonardo da Vinci－may well have fixed an admiring eye on the very same vista.

Nanjing is not exactly short of places of historical and cultural interest, either. It was the capital of six dynasties since 3 AD. It's one of China's four ancient capitals－along with Xi'an, Beijing and Luoyang－and has always been a cultural center attracting intellectuals from all over the country.