Shanghai has a soft spot for Italy, but last week the city got a taste of a corner most travelers overlook: Friuli Venezia Giulia. The region—wedged between the Alps, Slovenia, and the Adriatic—closed out its five-day "Friuli Week" at The Edition Shanghai with a mix of food, wine, coffee, and a rooftop concert that felt more like a postcard from Trieste than a tourism promo.
PromoTurismoFVG, the official tourism board, brought in almost 250 travel journalists, influencers, and industry people for a program built around one idea:IO SONO FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA—a region defined as much by its borders as by how it blends them.
Coffee, Wine, and a Crash Course in a Region That Does Both Extremely Well
The week opened with a coffee masterclass led by Steven Zheng and Gordon Cui from Università del Caffè China. Trieste—home of illy and the unofficial caffeine capital of Italy—was the jumping-off point. The session traced how the city shaped Italy's espresso culture, from old-school roasters to global brands, and why Trieste's port made it the place where beans (and ideas) landed first.
Then came the wine. Master Sommelier Yang Lu hosted a deep dive at8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant that handled all food for the event. Friuli is famous in Italy for its whites; locals casually call themselves the "capital of white wine," and they have the numbers to back it up—nearly 90 million bottles a year across nine DOCs. Guests tasted everything from Prosecco and Friulano to Ribolla Gialla and Malvasia, plus the region's sleeper reds like Refosco and Schioppettino.
A Borderless Feast
The gala dinner was Friuli filtered through Bombana's kitchen: frico (crisp Montasio cheese and potato), hand-carved San Daniele PDO ham, smoked trout tartare from the Isonzo River, and tiny gubana pastries stuffed with dried fruit and pine nuts. Every course came with a Friulian white, finishing with the sweet, honey-edged Ramandolo.
It wasn't just about food. The program highlighted the region's five UNESCO sites, four art cities—Trieste, Udine, Gorizia, Pordenone—and its outdoorsy credentials: Dolomites hikes, Alpine cycling routes, and the rare bragging rights of being able to wake up with mountain peaks and end the day with an Adriatic sunset ... all within 90 minutes.
Culture also took center stage. Gorizia (Italy) and Nova Gorica (Slovenia), joint European Capitals of Culture 2025, were spotlighted alongside Pordenone's upcoming 2027 title. It's a region where Italian, Slavic, and Austro-Hungarian influences meet—and where borders are more suggestion than barrier.
Three Nights, One Rooftop, and a Violinist Who Plugged His Instrument Into a Looping Pedal
PromoTurismoFVG, together with the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT), hosted three themed evenings for Shanghai's tourism, design, and business communities. The finale ended on The Edition rooftop, where violinist-composer Pierpaolo Foti performed two surprise sets: first lush Italian classics, then a modern electronic loop-driven piece that felt like Friuli remixed for 2025 Shanghai.
Why Friuli Is Pushing Now
As PromoTurismoFVG put it: "We share real landscapes, not clichés. Here you can catch an Alpine sunrise and an Adriatic sunset in the same day." The delegation closed the week with an open invitation—go see it for yourself.
For anyone planning a "next Italy trip" that isn't the same Italy trip, Friuli Venezia Giulia just made its case. And Shanghai, judging from the turnout, is listening.
