China, Italy to shoot documentary on Xi'an, Rome

Chinese and Italina TV companies plan to shoot a documentary "Dialogue between Xi'an and Rome", telling the history of cultural exchanges between the two ancient empires.

The documentary will be shot in 2014 by Xi'an Qujiang Film and TV Company, Radio Televisione Italiana (RAI) and Shaanxi Radio and TV Station, according to Guan Zhaoyi, board chairman of Xi'an Qujiang Film and TV Company.

The film will feature civilization and culture along the Silk Road, which linked China and Europe more than 2,000 years ago, Guan told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The documentary is expected to be broadcast simultaneously in 2015 on Shaanxi Satellite TV and RAI, he said.

Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province and known in ancient times as Chang'an, is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. It was the capital of China's Western Han Dynasty (202 BC- 9 AD).