Full coverage: G20 Hangzhou Summit

The times when Beijing foodies had to travel almost 12 hours to taste some real Italian cooking are over. An array of Italian restaurants have opened their doors in recent years to showcase some of the Mediterranean country’s finest cuisine.

“Bella Italia” is hidden in Beijing’s hutongs. In Italy, the saying goes: "the appetite comes by eating." Italians are known around the world for their passion for cooking and food. And that is no different in far away China.

Dozens of Italian pizzerias and trattorias have popped up in Beijing over the past couple of years, although the scene here is still a far cry from the “Little Italy” in cities such as New York.

The pizzeria we visit here is run by the Fratelli Salvo, two brothers from Naples. Their pizzas are prepared in a wooden fire oven with the pizzaiolo, the pizza expert, working the dough and toppings, adding fresh and seasonal vegetables or meat.

In this Neapolitan style, the pizzas are thin crust, made with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese, served up fast, and packed with flavour.

Classic Italian ingredients include olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, buffalo Mozzarella, pasta, risotto rice, flour, and fresh herbs such as basil or rosemary. But locating these ingredients in Beijing is not always easy.

“In Bottega, we use 100 percentItalian food, especially mozzarella we import from Italy, tomato sauce for the pizza we import from Italy. The flour we import from Italy, even the wood for cooking the pizza,” said Daniele Salvo, GM & co-founder of Bottega.

We visit The Hutong cooking school, tucked away in an alleyway in a different part of Beijing, to learn more about Mediterranean cuisine.

“This wonderful array of different flavors, of noodles, pastas and breads, and, of course the fantastic mozzarella, and the tomato sauces, and just the expression of the Italian culture as a very small dish,” Tang said.

Back in the restaurant, it looks like the food appeals to the Chinese clientele.

“I wanted to try authentic pizza, that’s why we decided to come here. The smell of the cheese is a bit strong,” said Liu Yang, restaurant guest.

The similarities between Italian and Chinese food are indeed striking.

“I think Italian food and Chinese food in some way is quite similar. We have ravioli, they have jiaozi. We have spaghetti, they have noodles. So in some way, we have something in common,” said Daniele Salvo.