Our story
2015
An idea, in Varese
In early 2015 a group of Chinese families in the province of Varese set their goal, helped by the Milan association of Chinese from Zhejiang: a school where their children would not lose the language spoken at home. By the end of that year an agreement with the Istituto Salesiano “AT Maroni” in Varese gave them classrooms on Sundays.
2016
First lessons, and a sister school
The first summer courses opened in June. In September, with the backing of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the school twinned with Xiantai Primary School in Changchun, Jilin. That December its first students left for the winter camp of the “Roots-Seeking Journey” programme.
2017
On to Beijing
In July a group of students joined the Beijing summer camp of the “Roots-Seeking Journey” programme. Not sightseeing: the trip that gives Sunday mornings their point.
2018
Sundays in Busto Arsizio
On 26 September 2018 classes opened in Busto Arsizio as well, in partnership with Acof Olga Fiorini: every Sunday, for children aged seven and up, Chinese language alongside geography, history and culture.
2023
Its own premises, the same school
The school passed into the hands of someone who had taught in those classrooms, and is run today by Zig Zag Academy. For the first time it has premises of its own, in Varese and in Busto Arsizio. The management changed; the name families know it by, and the reason it exists, did not.
2025/26
Twelve levels, and everything around them
The curriculum follows the twelve volumes of the Zhongwen series, from the first character through to HSK certification, with a placement test so nobody wastes a term at the wrong level. Alongside the language: calligraphy, recitation and public speaking, singing, art, mathematics, coding, Italian for foreigners and business Chinese. The aim is the one the school wrote for itself years ago — that children arrive thinking “I want to learn Chinese”, not “I have to learn Chinese”.