The Borgo, his mother’s restaurant, the friends he’d known forever. And then the flaming bolas, one of the great passions for which so many remember him. The death of Marco Qiu, the 35-year-old from Rimini who drowned at the Brusia waterfalls in the Forlì Apennines, has left a whole slice of the city that watched him grow up in shock.
Marco had arrived in Rimini as a child with his family, who moved from China in the 1990s. Borgo San Giuliano had become his home: this was where he went to school, made friends and spent much of his life. His mother runs the Fiore di Loto, a well-known Chinese restaurant near the Tiberius Bridge, where he too had recently been working.
After the tragedy, countless messages appeared on social media. Casa Madiba Network, one of the community groups Marco was part of, remembered him this way: «It feels so absurd having to write these words of farewell to you, dear Marco, who were only 35 and were a good, kind person».
The lengthy tribute dwells above all on his bond with San Giuliano, where Marco had «grown up since childhood in the streets of the borgo, looked after by the whole old guard of borghigiane women». It also recalls his passion for juggling: «With that special smile of yours, we will keep thinking of you, and your spinning bolas tracing new patterns and paths, lighting up a moon that today feels darker and sadder».
Similar words have come from friends. One rewinds all the way back to middle school: «Hi Marco, we grew up together, since our middle school days. We were just kids, with our whole lives ahead of us, with no idea how much our paths would change». Then came the more occasional encounters as the years went by: «I’d see you now and then at your mom’s restaurant, and every time I found that same smile and sensitivity that always set you apart».
Another friend chooses instead an image that captures Marco without needing many more words: the lit bolas spinning in the night. «The fierce whirling of your flaming bolas painted the night, weaving stories about the meeting of two peoples on the left bank of the Marecchia, in the heart of the ancient Borgo San Giuliano: your home».
Just a few days earlier, he had run into him by chance downtown. «I saw you so happy on the Corso the other day, with your girlfriend. I was happy too, happy for you. Goodbye, my friend».
The tragedy unfolded at the Brusia waterfalls, in Bocconi, where Marco was with his girlfriend. After diving into one of the pools, the 35-year-old never resurfaced. The young woman immediately raised the alarm and rescue teams rushed to the scene. His body was located and recovered by fire brigade divers, but every attempt to save him proved futile.
