Italian artists set up an experimental base for artistic creation in Zhujiajiao on Sunday, a town scenically set amid rivers and lakes in Shanghai's Qingpu district.

"We choose the town as an artistic creation base, because it has similar scenic characteristics to those in Italy but with a different cultural background," said Gerardo Lo Russo, president of the Rome Academy of Art.

Italian artists will visit at regular intervals, he said.

Meanwhile, the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts also unveiled their experimental bases for artistic creation in the town. Ponte-Roma International Artists' Association also set up its Shanghai office.

Russo was astonished by the town's charming scenery.

"The town has almost the same setting as Venice, with its waterways, but its atmosphere and traditional culture are quite different," he said.

He spent two days in the town creating an oil painting "Bridge," indicating the town as a cultural link.

The painting was showcased at the exhibition, The Bridge of Humanities, which at the Zhujiajiao Humanistic Museum on Sunday to exhibit 48 paintings created by 16 Chinese and Italian artists.

The show will last until Dec 31.