Peking Opera. Photo provided to China Daily

The most impressed were children. The unusual combination of vibrant music, vivid makeup and costumes, dances and acrobatics being performed at the Brancaccio Theatre in Rome, seemed to both enchant them and make them eager to join in.

Yet, grown-ups showed no less fascination for the show, especially those who never had a chance of seeing the Peking Opera before.

"It was very interesting, and I think also a genuine introduction to Chinese traditional culture," young Francesco Pennacchia from Rome told Xinhua.

"What struck me most was the comical sense that actors on stage were able to transmit. I did not expect the Peking Opera to have such 'ingredient' among its many artistic components," he said.

Pennacchia was one of hundreds of Italians who came on Saturday to Brancaccio, a historic theatre in Rome well known for the educational approach of its programs, to watch the Peking Opera that kicked off a week-long event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Confucius Institutes worldwide.

The initiative, organized by the Confucius Institute at La Sapienza University in Rome, would offer various events related to Chinese culture, language, and arts throughout the city, ending up with a major happening on September 27, when the Global Confucius Institute Day would be celebrated in some 500 similar institutions around the world.

The Peking Opera, as most representative embodiment of the Chinese traditional culture, was chosen to inaugurate Rome's week of events.

"I was most curious to watch the show," Chryso Kruma, an Italian woman of Cypriot origins, told Xinhua.

"I have been living in Rome with Chinese neighbors for so many years now, yet I don't know much of their culture. This was a good chance to get to know it better," she added.