Sidewalks, shops and bars are empty this mid-February in via Pistoiese, in Prato. We usually jostle in this "little Wenzhou" in Tuscany (Italy). But today it is difficult to guess that we are at the heart of one of the largest “Chinatowns” in Europe, where “officially 30,000 Chinese live, not counting the 5,000 or so illegal immigrants, ” according to Simone Mangani, municipal councilor for culture and to citizenship.
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Now the Chinese in Tuscany are invisible. The Internationale, via Marco Roncioni, a historic center of Chinese cuisine always full and noisy, is nothing more than a closed box on a large deserted parking lot. On its door, a discreet message appears: “Closed from February 4 to 28. The reopening will be communicated before the end of the holidays. " We are still talking about holidays… The school which trains young people born in Italy in the culture of their ancestors, closed for weeks, reopened on February 15. But "only fifteen out of 300 pupils returned," acknowledges
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