Italian astronaut becomes online star

Besides "wow" and "great", what else would you say when flying over the Earth in space? Samantha Cristoforetti, the first Italian female astronaut in space, posted several lines of a famous ancient Chinese composition on Twitter to share her joy.

She first wrote in Chinese, and then attached an accurate translation of the lines in both Italian and English to help more people understand.

"Looking up, I see the immensity of the cosmos; bowing my head, I look at the multitude of the world. The gaze flies, the heart expands, the joy of the senses can reach its peak, and indeed, this is true happiness," it says.

The text she quoted is from the Preface to Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion, a Chinese calligraphy masterpiece by Wang Xizhi (303-361) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420).

She also attached three photos taken in space of China's Bohai Bay and the day-night view of Beijing.

Two days before she landed on Earth, the beauty of space and Chinese literature resonated on her Twitter account. Before long, her posts went viral on Twitter with thousands of retweets, likes and replies.

The poem and views are both magnificent; if everyone could enjoy the same sight, a lot of pain in the world would be dissipated, one user comments.

A European astronaut in space recites Chinese ancient poetry, how romantic, says another.