After three years, Casu is more than ever entrenched in Wuhu as his Chinese wife comes from the city. Casu says his wife has helped him understand more about the local culture and life.

"It's difficult to understand another culture unless you really learn to live with it," he says. "But getting across the cultural wall is important for both work and life."

Even though he has been living in the city only for a short time, Casu says there are "many changes and improvements that are making Wuhu better and better".

"It is quiet and a great place to work in. The environment is also good with lots of greenery," he says.

"I think Wuhu is moving in the right direction with more shopping centers and five-star hotels coming up," says Casu, who also believes that the city's big potential in auto industry will attract more and more foreign companies.

"Foreign companies will find ways of coming to Wuhu thanks to the immense support from the local government, while the rapid growth of the auto industry will help it to become an international center."

To some extent that holds true as Wuhu's gross domestic product (GDP) has been outpacing the national average, with sectors like electronic home appliance manufacturing, automotive and parts industry and materials being the pillars of the local economy.

Yet, Casu is also well aware that there are some difficulties one has to face when living in cities like Wuhu.

"Generally speaking, it's a little bit difficult to live in a smaller city as there is limited access to imported goods compared to bigger cities."