A Chinese translation of A History of Venice by British historian and travel writer John Julius Norwich was recently published by Yilin Press.

Norwich, who was deeply in love with Venice, used about 600,000 words running over more than 800 pages to tell the whole story of the city's past, starting from its founding in the 5th century and ending when the doge Bucentaur was sacked by Napoleon Bonaparte who ended the city's 300-year-old independence in 1797.

In the book, the author not only displays the paintings, statues, costumes, customs and social life of Venice's legacy, but also explores the shaping of its oligarchic democracy that remained stable for a millennium.