"In 1976, I traveled to China for the first time... Since then, I have been to China 157 times. I witnessed China's reform and opening-up and the gigantic progress it has brought about," Italian sinologist Adriano Madaro, dubbed the "Marco Polo" of modern times, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Over the last 32 years, Madaro has been to many places in China. He has visited not only big cities like Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangdong and Beijing, but also the most far-flung and inaccessible regions, from Inner Mongolia to Tibet, from Heilongjiang to the island of Hainan.

Because of his unique experiences, the Italian expert on China has been a rare witness to the vast changes that have taken place in China's metropolitan life, as well as the people's struggle and their efforts to combat poverty in the country's rural areas over the last three decades.

"In the whole process, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, as a vanguard of reform and opening-up, played a pivotal role," said Madaro of the changes sweeping every corner of China.

"Economic development has made China more important in the international arena," he said.

Each time Madaro visited China, he would stay for no less than 10 days, sometimes even a month. Wherever he went, he always took a camera with him to capture what he saw and what he felt.

Of all his impressions about China, the changes in Beijing, among others, are the most striking.

When he arrived in Beijing for the first time in 1976, he was fascinated by the criss-crossing hutongs, and the ubiquitous bicycles that were the main means of transportation at the time, said Madaro.

Now he finds the roads full of automobiles, the subway lines much longer, and new skyscrapers shooting up everyday.

Madaro has recorded his memories of China's changing landscape in various forms.