WEARING a pink suit with an exaggerated necklace, Sara Ferrandoy looks a million miles away from the stereotypical image of a consulate official.

The Italian mother of a 5-year-old boy — and wife of a Chinese man — is in love with Shanghai.

The 37-year-old has lived in the city for 14 years. “Shanghai is so amazing — like Europe while not totally. I feel like I am at home.”

When Ferrandoy recalls her days in Shanghai dating her boyfriend, now her husband, her eyes twinkle.

“I have many memories from that time. We went around, had dinner and I met his friends. He is a designer, so we went to many art exhibitions and many events related to art,” she says.

Love is, obviously, one of the most important memories of Ferrandoy’s time in China. But before coming here, she already built a strong connection with China by learning the Chinese language and culture.

For her, moving to and living in Shanghai was natural. “I didn’t feel any culture shock when I came,” she says. “Maybe it was destiny, I don’t know.”

Q: Do you remember the first time you came to Shanghai?

A: It was in 2003. I was a student in Zhejiang University and came to Shanghai to visit. I had never been to Shanghai before. I spent two days, a weekend, here with my classmates. There were six of us from different countries.

I was so impressed by the skyscrapers and the Bund. As you know, foreigners know about Shanghai from the Bund and Nanjing Road, so we went there because everyone was talking about them.

I was only 23 years old at that time. I found many similarities between Shanghai and Europe. If you go to the Bund or the downtown area, you’ll find a lot of buildings in the French style, Spanish style or Italian style. So for me, it was like, “Oh, there were so many European-style buildings.”

Q: So the impressive thing are the similarities, right?

A: Yes, in a way it was. When I visited the Bund, I heard the sound of the bell there. I thought it was like Italy. It made me feel like home for a while.

Of course, Shanghai is also different from Europe, because in a way it is really Chinese, like the shikumen (stone-gated) houses and the lane houses. So Shanghai is like a mix of Europe and China. Maybe unique, I mean I haven’t found any city similar to Shanghai in this way.

Q: Why did you come to Shanghai and live for such a long time?

A: The main reason was that in 2004 I met my husband. At that time he was working in Shanghai. I started to think about moving here to work in the future. The second reason is that I like the city.

Q: Why did you choose Hangzhou to study Chinese?

A: I graduated in Italy in 2003, and my major was Chinese language and culture. I went to Hangzhou because there was an agreement between my university and Zhejiang University. So, I decided to go there.

Q: So back in Italy you could already speak Chinese?

A: Yes. Not so well, but yes. Chinese is really difficult.

Q: Why did you pick such a difficult major?

A: That is a long story. When I was 16 years old, my father borrowed a book on China written by a Chinese-American author. I never read any book on China before. I felt so interested in the culture.

It was more than 20 years ago. I didn’t know so much about China at the time. Maybe a little about the economy and some history issues, but I didn’t know about its famous writers.

I was so impressed by that novel, because the author was talking about her family: her mother, grandmother and the history.

I started to think about whether or not I should study Chinese. I love to study languages. So I thought maybe I could choose Chinese as a foreign language.

Q: Do you still remember the book?

A: Yes, the title is “White Swan” in English. I think the author wrote it in English, not in Chinese. But it is amazing. It is about three generations of women in China.

Q: How do you spend your weekends in Shanghai?

A: Now I am very busy with my child. I used to work on weekend but I enjoy spending time with my kid on a weekend because he really needs me.

I used to send him to Italian school on Saturday mornings because I want him to learn Italian. Then we go to the park or somewhere to have fun together. Because he is 5 years old, he really likes to play outdoors. So I’m familiar with many parks in Shanghai, like Century Park, Zhongshan Park, Changfeng Park and Tianshan Park.

Q: Where in Shanghai do you like best?

A: I used to like the restaurants and coffee shops, but after I had my child, I prefer to go to places where my kid can have fun. Now it is family restaurants and bookstores.

Q: Which road do you like best?

A: I like Anfu Road, Xinhua Road, Fuxing Road and the areas around them, because I like to visit the small lanes and shops. They are very Shanghainese.

Q: What elements make you love Shanghai?

A: I think maybe the international atmosphere here. Although you are in China, you don’t feel a culture shock so much.

Q: So there was no culture shock at the beginning?

A: Not so much. It was so natural for me to move and live here. Sometimes, I think about my past, how many years I have been here. Fourteen years! That is amazing.

I didn’t feel the culture shock maybe because I studied Chinese. In my mind, I knew a little bit about China. I have been to Beijing to study so I didn’t feel shocked when I arrived in Shanghai.

Q: Are there any differences between the books you read in Europe and here?

A: Yes. In Europe, we get to know about China through some books and movies, especially movies from Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige. So we have a romantic idea of China at that time.

Twenty years ago, we didn’t know so much about China. If you asked me about it, I would have thought of a beautiful lady wearing qipao and garden houses.

When I arrived in Beijing for the first time in 1999 for summer school, I realized it was not like that. But then I visited the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square and it is like the movie “The Last Emperor” directed by the famous Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci.

Q: As an opposite question, do you have anything you dislike here? Any suggestions to change it or make it better?

A: As a mother, my only concern is the pollution.

And then, sometimes if I don’t go to the park, I have to spend money to let my kid play. I mean there are not so many free facilities for children.

Yes, there are some places you and your family can go, but it is expensive so not everyone can afford.

You can take your kids to Disneyland, but you can’t take him there every week.

Or if you go to the shopping mall, and there’s a playground for kids, you have to pay more than 100 yuan (US$15) sometimes. I feel it’s too expensive.

Q: Are there any shortages we have, and do you have any solutions for us to borrow from?

A: Education. You know we are foreigners, and we can only go to private or international schools here. In our country, education is free of charge, so Chinese who live in Italy can send their kids to our public schools for free.

That is maybe a problem not only for me, but also other expats.

And life is getting expensive here. Things such as renting an apartment or going to a restaurant. Even compared with Europe now, Shanghai is costly.

There is not a Metro line that connects Shanghai to other small cities, like Nanxun or Xitang.

If you could take the subway there for one day, that would be nice.