The Sino-Italian love culture festival was held Wednesday in the northern Italian city of Verona, co-sponsored by the municipal governments Verona and eastern China's Ningbo city.

As the fictitious hometown of Romeo and Juliet, leading characters in Shakespeare's famous play "Romeo and Juliet," Verona is one of the most ancient and beautiful cities in Italy.

Ningbo is also a city in China's Zhejiang Province, where the Chinese classical romantic tragedy "Butterfly Lovers," or "Liang Zhu," took place. The "Butterfly Lovers" is also known as China's play of "Romeo and Juliet."

A white marble statue portraying Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the two lovers who eventually turned into butterflies, was placed in the square in front of the Juliet Museum in central Verona during the festival.

Fifteen couples from Ningbo in Chinese-style costumes held a romantic wedding in Verona, with blessing from the locals.

Ningbo and Verona became sister cities in October 2005. A delegation of Verona visited Ningbo in 2007 and presented the city a bronze statue of Juliet.

(Xinhua New Agency September 25, 2008)