A life of study dedicated to China

Adriano Màdaro, journalist and writer, is one of the foremost world experts on China where, over the last thirty-three years, he has made 162 trips with long stays and also penetrating into the most remote regions, from Mongolia to Tibet, from Manchuria to the island of Hainan.
Upon graduating from university with a thesis of Political Doctrines on the Chinese Revolution, he concentrate on journalism, publishing monographies on the Far East for the De Agostini Geographic Institute of Novara (Italy), editing various kinds of newspapers and magazines; he has, moreover, often been sent as special correspondent to the China-Korea-Japan area in particular.
In his capacity as an expert on China, he was invited by the American government in autumn 1977 to visit the United States, where he met the leading Sinologists of the universities of Washington, Harvard, Stanford and New York as well as the experts of the Library of Congress.


In 1988 he was the first western journalist to travel in North Korea up to the 38th parallel and in 1990 he was present at the first democratic elections of Mongolia in Ulan Bator.
Member of the executive council of CEVESCO (Veneto Centre of Studies on Oriental Civilizations) of the University of Venice, for ten years he has been and continues to be the only non-Chinese member of the permanent executive council of the Chinese Academy of International Culture, with head office in Peking

He was director of the International Symposium on Marco Polo that took place in the Forbidden City in October 1991.
His writings include the following books: Mao in prima pagina (Mao on front page) (1977), Cina, 700 anni dopo Marco Polo (China, 700 years after Marco Polo) (1980), Gran Catai (Gran Cathay) (1983), Viaggio in Cina (Journey in China) (1986), Welcome Cina (Welcome China) (1988), Nel Grande Ignoto Paese al di là della Muraglia (In the Great Unknown Country beyond the Wall) (1989), Fiori di carta - Poesie dalla Cina (Paper flowers - Poems from China) (1990), Autunno in Corea (Autumn in Korea) (1990), Le giornate di Tien An-men (The days of Tien An-men) (1990), The Boxer rebellion (2001). Peking 1900 ( The Chinese edition of the "Boxer Rebellion", 2006), An eye-witness of an Italian journalist in Peking (People's Editions, 2008)

He is now working on a monumental book devoted to "Peking, capital of the Heavenly Empire".

On February 2002 he is appointed Official Representative of the Chinese Academy of International Culture for Italy and Europe.

On July 2002 he is invited to organize a Historical Exhibition devoted to the Old Peking in the restored imperial studio "Huafangzhai" of Beihai Park. The Peking Municipal Government was among the sponsors.

On May 2003, during the SARS Epidemic, he is in Peking, consultant of the Information Office of the Municipal Government, as journalist expert on the international media.

On September 2003 he is appointed jointly by the Chinese Academy of International Culture and the Fondazione Cassamarca of Treviso director of the Project and of the Great Exhibitions "The Silk Road and Two Thousand Years of the Chinese Civilisation" to be organized in the "Casa dei Carraresi" between 2005 and 2011.

On October 2003 he is invited by the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, through the Italian Cultural Office of the Italian Embassy in Peking, to partecipate as journalist expert on China to the "Third Week of the Italian Language in the World", with lectures in the Universities of Peking and Canton.

In autumn 2003 the television channel "Beijing TV" produced two one-hour documentaries entitled "The Modern Marco Polo" dedicated to the life of Adriano Màdaro and his cultural activities in Italy and China. The television crew made a special journey to Italy to film the sections dealing with his home life.

In 2005/2006 Màdaro curated the first exhibition, entitled "The Birth of the Heavenly Empire", in the series "The Silk Road and Chinese Civilisation" at the Casa dei Carraresi in Treviso. This was followed in 2007/2008 by the second exhibition, "Genghis Khan and the Treasure of the Mongols".

In July 2006 People's Editions, Beijing published the Chinese edition of his book on the Boxer Rebellion, "Peking 1900", which was distributed throughout the country.

In October 2008 People's Editions published his work "An Italian Journalist in Beijing: 1976-2008", including a long introductory essay and a selection of 200 colour photographs taken by the author during the 32 years of his travels in China. The work was selected from 3,000 works put forward by Chinese publishers in order to celebrate thirty years of economic reform.

The third exhibition, dedicated to the Ming dynasty, was held between October 2009 and May 2010 with the title "The Secrets of the Forbidden City - Matteo Ricci at the Ming Court".

In February 2010 a team from X Stream, a Hong Kong/China television production company conducted a long interview with Adriano Màdaro regarding his more than thirty years of cultural activities in China. The documentary will be broadcast by the main Chinese television channels in autumn this year to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, celebrations for which Adriano Màdaro has been chosen as an expert advisor. The team, headed by the well-known Hong Kong film producer Chow Keung, included the director Emily Tang and two television operatives from Beijing.  

In 2011/2012 the fourth exhibition, "Manchu, the Last Emperor", will conclude the series dedicated to China. From 2013, Adriano Màdaro, once again at the Casa dei Carraresi, will curate a series of three exhibitions on India which will be followed in 2017 by one on Japan.

Adriano Màdaro lives and works in Treviso and Beijing.


With Li Shuxian, the widow of the Last Emperor Pu Yi

With Mao Xinyu, President
Mao Zedong's grand son

With Wang Daguan, the painter of the rolls "Lao Beijing"